“Insurance litigator Andrew Hooker has taken on the case for free, saying while refusing to pay out on a lapsed policy legal, Dishington was “a dead man walking” and the insurer should show some compassion.
“The very thing that led to him not paying the premium was what killed him.”
Victim had paid AMP $70,000 over several years before he became incapacitated.
So change the government to one that doesn’t believe in neoliberalism.that was good until Key and Judge got their hands on it.
The solution again is simple.
Abandon neoliberalism.
“The problem is that the government stopped acting as a government and started acting as a business.”
Thats true enough but there does remain one advantage even so….and thats the government will not declare bankruptcy (or at least not at the drop of a hat) and walk away from any proved liability
So make your mind up. Are you talking about more regulation or are you talking about nationalisation?
You obviously have little time for anybody who challenges what you write. Trolls are like that. That you would suggest that I am a defender of neoliberalism just shows how little attention you actually pay.
Says you. You are of course the voice of reason….and a legend in you’re own mind.
We all defer to your greatness and wonder how in the fuck we can ever be ‘like’ you.
I’m depressed. I WANNA BE LOIK SOLKTA.
I know I am one – that is a little old lady who is shortly to be an ex customer of Public Trust to protect what I hope to be able to leave to my chosen beneficiaries.
If we could renationalise the banks, we would be far less vulnerable to international financial interests.
If you want to know who really runs NZ, follow the money.
And a lot of that money is Chinese.
Paranoia much. The comment was about Chinese (probably black) mobey…. not Chinese (as in people as a race or ethnicity). Could just as easily have been Russian or the proceeds from any other expansionist wannabe Empire
“The government’s ownership of the BNZ, and use of it as its banker, allowed it to become the largest trading bank. It was fully nationalised in 1945.
An 1865 law which established the Post Office Savings Bank also curbed the rights of other savings banks and enabled it to absorb competitors. By the mid-1950s the Post Office Savings Bank controlled around 80% of the personal savings market.”
“The government’s ownership of the BNZ, and use of it as its banker, allowed it to become the largest trading bank. It was fully nationalised in 1945.
An 1865 law which established the Post Office Savings Bank also curbed the rights of other savings banks and enabled it to absorb competitors. By the mid-1950s the Post Office Savings Bank controlled around 80% of the personal savings market.”
The issue is New Zealand’s banks set a sector profit record in 2017, their profits rising 7.35 per cent to $5.1 billion.
Most of those banks are not NZ owned banks any more therefore NZ does not get that profit that we would get if it was owned by a NZ company.
Apparently NZ banks are one of the most profitable in the world!
(Possibly a complete lack of government regulation, such as not even requiring the bank to guarantee cash deposits, have helped us achieve this dubious honour).
The now profitable (mostly Australian owned) banks were sold off by our government for a song in the 1980’s and 1990’s, like Bank of New Zealand, etc….
Which contains the statement –
“A state monopoly can be run at close to cost.”
This applies to more than insurance. It can also be applied to state housing.
It was only National’s cult rigidity that caused it to bring state housing up to market level in stages to make it less noticeable and less of a financial shock to everyone.
Housing could have a base housing cost set at new based on costs. Then the aim should be to recover that cost over many years on an amortised basis, plus an allowance for repairs and maintenance each year, these to be carried out regularly. There is no reason for state housing to be provided free, the people in them may be entitled to government pensions, and out of those they might need rental housing and if it is government housing they would be able to afford it, it might be somewhat cheaper than private, but sufficient for government retrieval of cost plus.
The new style of census seems to have been a disaster. This is what the country is coming to.
I didn’t fill it in. But is sounds like it was designed with extensive consultation from Wellington committees, hence completely out of touch with modern life.
There is a certain irony about worrying about A4 sized mould in a census while not actually understanding the vast amounts of people who don’t even have a home to live in to even be included in the census or even want to be identified, or to calculate the hours of their ‘main’ job when people don’t even have a main job anymore.
ECO MAORIs Kiwi Bank ac 389019048573100 Please help me to sort the nz police out
I decided against trying to use PayPal to receive donations .I decided to copy
Thestandards safe way of appealing and receiving donations I set up a Kiwi Bank AC
So he tangata the people of Aoteraoroa New Zealand who support ECO MAORI can use internet banking to make donations and know that there bank accounts are safe after they have made a donation . ECO MAORI will use the donations to SUE the nz police for all the breaches to mine and my Whano Privacy Rights & Human Rights a lot of people can see this has been happening to ECO MAORI when I win my case I will set up a
Charitable Trust and I will pay the money that I used and any extra donations into this Trust account and appeal to anyone else in Aoteraoroa who need help with finance to SUE the nz police for there in justices I will copy bank statements on this site to let he tangata the people know that ECO MAORI has Honest Honorable and transparent intentions to use your hard earned Putea Money. .
Kia Kaha Ka kite ano
Good morning Corin Dan from Q & A on TV1 I’v had to face up to the silver back effect and buy me some reading glasses lol.
Its assume that good fortune shines down on a Labour lead Governments finances the working common persons Government .
What happened to a Government that was all about the wealthy well you already know the answer to that question Te tangata Te tangata Te tangata treating the people humanly and fairly look after Papatunanuku and all her beautiful creatures and good fortune is what you will receive .
shonky gave the wealthy who did not need more money more money tax cuts and were did that come from well the poor common person he put GST up 2. 1/2 % .
shonkys famous words were I will not put up GST .
Business people you will have to use your initiative and management will have to earn the money and become more productive to support a higher wage like OUR Australian cousins do. Pay more money for the common person and Ladys equally then there is more money for business . Ka kite ano P.S I believe there should be quote rs for ladys in management at 25% Kia kaha Eco maori will still voice his opinion when I see anyone taking us down the wrong path
Here is a industry that would increase OUR gross domestic product by 1 Billion dollars in 3 years it will creat hundreds of jobs for our rual communitys that have had a sharp decline in income in the last 30 years .I have seen this decline with my own eyes .When I was a young man there were Kiwi fruit orchards vineyards all around the East Coast Ngati Purou sheep and Beef farms were all well mantained and employment was a lot higher than it is at the minute.
I can even remember the Helicopter flying Rob Muldoon to Rangitokia or Tiktiki I was on the other side of the Waiapu river at Tikapa this is how much Mana Te Taiwhiti had in those days . This industry will creat income with low impact to the enviroment ka kite ano
This is what happens when one does not learn the culture and does not show respect to that culture the people who are investing in there country lose out big time its time we respected these great people and there culture well thats ECO MAORI view enough said here is a link to Newsroom .
If teaching was a male dominated sector of OUR society they would be payed a lot more here is a link showing the disparities of in come between Ladys and men this has to change as the jobs aren’t easier because someone is a lady if fact its harder for Ladys in male dominated industrys.
Good evening News Hub on TV 3 well I have already written about some of the topics you have covered to night .
The Poverty Bay name change is a topic I would like to write about te tangata will already know my opinion of this the Original name would be nice .
Celebrating the NZ Aotearoa wars will educate all Kiwis about what happened and about OUR Maori culture I hope all Kiwis will be proud of our Maori culture as ECO MAORI is Kia kaha ka kite ano P.S its been a good weekend for our sports ka pai
You have been publishing this a lot recently (and the previous give-a-little and paypal).
How is it going?
Got a lawyer to help you as yet? You know a lot will help on a contingency basis if they think you have a case – which means you wont need the money up front.
I requested paper forms over a week ago (it said it would take upp to a week to get it to me). Still haven’t received it. Sent them a message yesterday.
I will fill it out.
But can see how the many homeless would find it to much hassle to find a way to get access to fill in the form (on or offline).
It’s part of our +rock star+ economy that the MSM and government tells us we have.
If you only ask the right questions and send it to people who feel comfortable in their conservatory with good internet access and reliable postal service, Wellington gets the results they want.
Hi Carolyn, how were the desperate homeless folks’ census statistics gathered in the past? I don’t think foot soldier collectors toured under bridges and parks after dark.
The majority of New Zealanders considered homeless have letterboxes. I believe we are apparently the worst in the OECD because our statistics include people like me when I was living in luxury at my sister’s place.
Of course we need to address our problems but to do so we need an accurate handle on the problem.
This footage from downtown Los Angeles Christmas Day a few months ago.
For the previous census, statsnz did indeed have people taking forms around known sleeping areas. Dunno about the one just been.
I quite liked the qualitative lifestyle questions in this census. Each one individually sounds a bit silly, but if you’re a person in a dwelling with widespread mould, no conservatory, and you have difficulty cleaning yourself (which points to flexibility and activity levels) then that’s a different picture from someone who’s perfectly fine in a clean, dry home with a conservatory or two.
If you can’t clean yourself up, how reliable are your other faculties?
Also I think the problem is, the census won’t be an accurate picture because there are serious issues with how the census itself was run and people either did not know about the changes of arbitrary deciding to get people to go onto the Internet rather than using people going door to door as in previous censuses.
It you count the homeless, couch surfers, illegal immigrants, people who can’t or won’t use a computer, people who didn’t know about it, (easy to do if you seldom use mail and don’t watch TV) and non English speakers then you probably have about 25% of people who won’t complete it.
So it’s not gonna provide any answers that are meaningful to the government.
People and paper would have been better like the old days, but these days it’s easier to pretend that forms mean everybody’s needs and there is a zealous willingness to complete them. (Possibly a Wellington curse).
Cleaning requires joint flexibility and/or physical proportions within a certain range. Next time you sit down on the loo, pretend you can’t bend your back without shards of pain, or that you can’t rotate your shoulder to raise your hand up to 45 degrees. As if you’d had a vehicle injury years ago or arthritis were well-entrenched. And even if someone can’t fill in the forms, there’s provision for the forms to be filled in by caregivers (not that a physical disability comes close to meaning one doesn’t have the “faculties” to fill in a form).
The couch surfers get the forms from the people who own the couch. The homeless are sought out by census workers. As are immigrants. After all that, the results are compared with testing exercises and previous results to calculate the estimated resident population (to account for internal migration on the day and some systemic issues).
If this census does indeed miss 25% of the population compared to the one five years ago, it would stand out like a dog’s bollocks. Most of the organisation was done under the nats, so we’ll see, but I reckon you’ll find that they know what dwellings exist and will be a-knocking on any that haven’t filled in the forms.
Yes, Graeme pointed out an aspect of this new online system that I hadn’t considered. With the paper version they state things like ‘If you answered Yes move on to the next question’. If answering ‘No’ the additional questions were all visible. With the online version, if answering ‘Yes’ we don’t know of the additional questions. I quite like seeing the additional questions but in the name of KISS I can see benefits.
Yes there seemed to be quite a focus on “So what sort of houses are we all living in?” I can see that generating useful stats. Polls and surveys seem to be all over the place and to go forward as best we can, we need to know where we’re at now.
One of the changes with the move online is that the sub-menus and questions are now hidden to unaffected people. In the old days of paper it was all there but you’d be directed to specific sections base on your answer.
One question that had me wondering was the Maori decent one, 3 options yes, no, don’t know. I selected don’t know as I have several people with no past down the tree. I then got directed to a question asking if I knew my iwi. Now that should have been picked up in re-release testing, which brings the whole thing into question. What other errors where in the thing?
Thank-you fior inviting me to quote your entire comment, I may do that in a future Open Mike.
Your continuing failure to acknowledge your misunderstanding of ‘tit for tat’, which was the only justification you offered for your initial misogynistic slur:
“That shows what kind of bitch you [Anne] are.”
is genuinely puzzling.
Maybe the light will dawn if I being responses to your more objectional ‘twits’ with the following:
That shows what kind of a bitch* James is.
*Note I’m using that term only because James has used this term against a person he does not like on this site. It’s called ‘just deserts’.
The remedy is in your hands. I predict that you will continue to maintain that there is nothing wrong with your initial misogynistic attack on Anne.
Yes, I wonder about the wisdom of publically claiming a refusal to complete the census. This from a recent Stuff article…
“If you don’t, here’s what Stats NZ has to say: “After census day, any household who is yet to complete their census forms will be contacted again by letter. … People who choose not to fill out their census forms can be fined between $50 and $500.”
I didn’t fill it in because I didn’t know it was on, I have everything automated and use email mostly to keep in touch, therefore seldom check paper mail and I don’t normally watch TV, let alone adds.
Nothing on Facebook and did not notice any adds on The Standard or Daily Blog for it (2nd and 3rd ranking blogs) which are my NZ blog reads, or the guardian (apparently they have 10% NZ readership) therefore it was a pretty bad effort in my view if the census people were trying to reach an online community that does not watch TV or read right wing propaganda on a regular basis.
Apparently you can still fill it in, but I only noticed that because I saw a TV add as I was fast forwarding about the census.
Personally I can see A LOT of problems with their assumptions.
I’m a native English speaker what did they do for non English speakers in particular ones who don’t want to be identified or are visiting.
The other day I posted a link with some tenants who trashed a house. I really can’t see how people like that are going to be reached by this style of census, can you really see people logging onto the internet and filling it out who are in dire straits or who have major issues going on?
As for going around homeless people, didn’t the John Key government laughably go around a few cars, to do that to determine that homeless people did not want any help?
We have just found that our immigration statistic are based on people signing a form on their intentions on entering the country not actually on actual records of who is really here in this country.
Many people have multiple passports and can apparently be deported and just pop back again for years under a new name. No wonder OZ and the UK are getting tired of all our citizens piggy backing into their countries on NZ passports.
These people live on another planet if you think our government amateur attempts are the way to gather data from a widening group of people who live here.
I didn’t fill it in because I didn’t know it was on
That was a problem. Advertising can only reach those who engage with the advertising medium.
Still, now that you know about it you can ring 0800 CENSUS and organise an access code.
Personally I can see A LOT of problems with their assumptions.
And I can see a lot of problems with your assumptions and they all revolve around your ignorance.
As for going around homeless people, didn’t the John Key government laughably go around a few cars, to do that to determine that homeless people did not want any help?
What’s one got to do with the other? Especially when John was actually lying about it.
The other day I posted a link with some tenants who trashed a house. I really can’t see how people like that are going to be reached by this style of census
I can’t see them being reached by any sort of census. Or do you think that census people should endanger their lives by approaching these people?
These people live on another planet if you think our government amateur attempts are the way to gather data from a widening group of people who live here.
Would you have preferred John Key’s and National’s preferred idea of dropping the census because they watched the populace enough to already have the data?
Please note that doing so is a legal requirement and that not doing so may come with a fine.
But is sounds like it was designed with extensive consultation from Wellington committees, hence completely out of touch with modern life.
Actually, it sounds like you’re talking out your arse. Nearly three million people had filled it out online by the end of the 6th so that would be very much inline with modern life.
There is a certain irony about worrying about A4 sized mould in a census while not actually understanding the vast amounts of people who don’t even have a home to live in to even be included in the census or even want to be identified, or to calculate the hours of their ‘main’ job when people don’t even have a main job anymore.
An A4 sized patch of mould can represent major problems with the house and as we have a housing crisis and houses that are killing people I’d say that it was fairly important.
People who don’t live in houses are being included.
People who put zero hours in their main job are noted as being unemployed. What most people don’t seem to understand is that it’s possible to extrapolate other answers from the data given.
Nearly three million people had filled it out online by the end of the 6th… we have over 4.5 million people here, so roughly a third have not filled it out.
But I sure you are right and it’s considered wildly successful by the bureaucrats having not managed to reach 33% so far.
(Against paper, which was probably a lot more successful).
Change and our reluctance to engage with it gets tougher as we age….The death of Freddie Mercury and John Bonham was the end of decent music. Remember when we repaired electric jugs, irons and taps…ahhhh the good old days.
Nearly three million people had filled it out online by the end of the 6th… we have over 4.5 million people here, so roughly a third have not filled it out.
Which is a lie. Nearly three million people filled it out online but many more had filled it out on paper but they’re going to take a while to come in.
(Against paper, which was probably a lot more successful).
[Citation Needed]
As I said – it’s always taken weeks and months to do the census.
You’re a really good advocate for the census Draco, I like your genuine commitment. The extrapolation of census statistics would do my head in but I could imagine you digging it. Would you entertain a full-time gig there?
I’m not taking the piss here Draco, I like you. I’d like to bounce some ideas off you. If it’s ok with you I wonder if an author here is able to send my log-in email address to you?
I might be barking up a disinterested tree, that’s cool too Draco. I still like you. Bastard.
Well done on gaining a useful qualification. I await the announcement of a Govt job (because private sector bad) with a salary just enough to live on (cos profit bad). Alternatively massive voluntary tax payments. Cos lots of tax good.
He founded it presumably assisted greatly in funding it but I greatly doubt he is CEO and am certain he wouldn’t be head of HR so why are you deciding to piss on him for the faults of middle management type muppets employed by it?
So in this instance – there is zero allegation against Bono, There is nothing showing he was involved in lack of investigations etc. Nothing at all to infer he has done anything wrong at all.
He did however help fund a charity that has done a lot of good and one assumes invested a lot of time and financial support to it in order to help people.
Yet he sums up everything that is wrong with the liberal Elite.
James, you obviously know what Ed is referring to, so stop being an idiot.
Ed, while I think that James’ comments yesterday were ‘casually’ racist, I don’t see what that has to do with the conversations here. You look like you are flaming, so I suggest you pull your head in as well.
Both of you can take this as a moderator warning. If you can’t play nicely I will take you both out of the sandpit for a time. This petty flaming puts other people off and adds nothing to the debates.
As I do you. And I say that given your comments on exploited immigrants who apparently should just learn to ‘move on’ in true H1/H2 pragmatism…after having been bullshiited to by agencies of/or by agencies the NZ state is responsible for.
Munned Stullet….move on man, cut your losses…. stop pushing shit uphill.
Forget the lifetime of earnings you’ve attained…
Nah man…you’re fault you were conned by NZ govt agency approved consiltants….move on….start again ya lazy munter.
Actually @SM, i used to take you at face value till I realised….fill in the rest for yourself
Yet he sums up everything that is wrong with the liberal Elite.
It is. If we didn’t have the rich, and that includes Bono, then we wouldn’t have need of charities to address the problems that the rich create by their simple existence.
‘Bono (and his charity One) earned kudos for insisting countries, corporations and people pay taxes in pursuit of a fairer society. In 2011, Bono, 57, who, according to CNN has an estimated net worth of $590 million, further angered his countrymen when he espoused the values of Ireland’s 12.5 percent corporate tax breaks. He went on the record to claim that these breaks for multi-billion dollar companies had brought Ireland the “only prosperity we’ve ever known.” He had a point, but as the locals noted, Bono wasn’t even giving the country a meager 12.5 percent any longer.’
More evidence of the duplicitous U2 lead singer.
The Irish hate him.
Because he is a tax dodger.
‘But to huge sections of the Irish population, Bono is about as welcome as cold sores and spam email. How can that be?’
‘it’s another issue that really dogs the band: their tax arrangements. In 2006, U2 moved part of their business to the Netherlands, where the tax rate on royalty earnings is more favourable for artists. When you operate on U2’s financial scale, this is a major detail. Ireland was scalded by the global 2008 financial crash; communities were eroded by austerity, while the band’s reputation as “tax dodgers” persisted. As People Before Profit party TD Bríd Smith says: “Bono is seen as part of that cohort of very wealthy people who avoid paying tax in this country but enjoy the fruits of being of this country.”
Interesting speech from Jeremy Corbyn to Scottish Labour. Starting off with a reference to the Spanish Civil War(!) and using terms like comrade to address the audience, and socialism to describe the party.
The themes of ending austerity, national renewal, a genuine economic alternative and hope for a better society in the future are what appeals to youth.
At 11:30 he starts to talk about Brexit and makes some interesting comments. Labour seems to have accepted Brexit – I don’t think Corbyn was really ever that keen on the United States of Neoliberal Europe anyway – and is seeking to paint the Tories as using Brexit for an exercise in disaster capitalism.
I don’t fancy his chances on getting a decent new customs union deal and retaining the single market with the EU. The idea Britain can regulate the importation of cheap Labour and remain in the customs union and single market seems fanciful to me. I don’t think Corbyn has yet grasped the nature of the European antipathy to the UK.
The EU bureaucracies response to Brexit so far has been arrogant, high handed and rigid. Talking to Europeans in Holland, Spain, Germany and France the public are kinda over the British hating on the EU anyway, and are sad the Brits leaving but over the moaning from them when they were in. The EU technocrats have got nothing to gain in cutting the British a good deal and a lot to lose if they make leaving the march to a centralised, technocrat run Europe look like a viable alternative.
Corbyn’s EU policy hinges on his promise of getting a good deal for Britain. Time will tell! But I support the idea of Britain leaving the EU if the EU will not allow the UK Labour party to carry out socialist reforms.
The EU has already shown it’s dedication to, keeping the power of banks, opposing Labour rights and community Democracy, and the ruthless bankrupting of any country that does not carry out Neo-liberal “reforms”.
The EU’s biggest problem with Britain leaving, is the population of other EU countries seeing what can happen when Socialist “Democracy” returns to Britain, under Corbyn.
Sanctuary it was Dundee’s large contribution of fighters to the Spanish Civil War that he was referring to, because he was speaking in Dundee.
And he kept referring to ‘our movement’ And he praised Ann somebody who got 70% of some vote, and that she was only the second woman to become Rector of some university. I think he was touching base with all the things that Labour Dundee had to be proud of.
I haven’t got time to listen to it properly and indeed i can’t hear clearly even though I have my sound options open fully – my hearing usually pretty good. So thanks for making this available. Others will no doubt get a lot from it.
Christianson, a tourist information adviser in the northern city of Akureyri, says Icelanders are becoming increasingly frustrated with having to queue, slow traffic on the ring road that circles the main island, and hearing English rather than Icelandic everywhere they go.
More worryingly, the millions of pairs of feet trampling on areas of natural beauty is unsustainable, while infrastructure is under intense pressure. Sound familiar?
Sutton was one of the keen devotees of Roger Douglas et al – (Roger Douglas, Michael Bassett, Mike Moore and David Lange were Labour Party politicians instrumental in the overthrow of their leader Bill Rowling …) – who went on to introduce us to the dreadful neoiberal, free market that has cost us so much.
Trotter’s essay quotes David Lange, who tried to withdraw from the Gang of Four, actually throwing out Roger which was disputed and reversed by his colleagues. David referred to Bill Sutton needing a brain transplant but that a compatible rabbit couldn’t be found. Trotter calls that a ‘vicious joke’. I think it was a well-deserved jab, and he might well have referred to a ‘compatible rat’.
Sutton is a scientist, and latterly a senior policy analyst for about 11 years. He must be suffering from what many scientists (and also many academics) fall prey to, a profound belief in the superiority of his mind and training and the rightness of his own decisions.
(Sutton has a PhD in biochemistry (Massey University) and worked as a research scientist from 1969 to 1984. After retiring from politics he worked as a senior policy analyst from 1996 to 2007.) Thanks wikipedia
Now the Ashurst bypass, first promised to be finished by March 2018 hasn’t even started and is merely drifting ever further into the future.
Is there anything, apart from taking lots and lots of selfies with primary school kids that our current lot of no-hopers has managed?
Well, if you need the land you can use the Public Works Act, or whatever it might be called these days. That is what is normally done in these circumstances and previous Labour Governments certainly weren’t phased by the idea.
That is of course what you would have to do if you decided to use the new railways of course for transport but I’m sure you know that. I think it is a great deal more likely that the NZTA have been told not to do anything as the current lot of bunnies in the Government can’t find any money.
As for using ships. There is a port at Wellington and another one at Napier of course but I’m not really sure that is the answer to transport between the Wairarapa or Southern Hawke’s Bay and the Manawatu.
I’m afraid you cannot blame the previous National Government for things that the present Government are delaying. Good try but no cigar.
I’m loving the right wing attack lines, “labour are not delivering”.
As it stands, we have a civil service who are no longer servants of the public, but ideology and preserving the status quo. Labour, NZ1st and the Greens can’t do anything until this pile of crap national left them with is fixed.
But that’s what works Alwyn. Selfies with school kids and endangered species gets us a Green/Labour govt next time round. We’re living a country where the most popular show on TV is Shortland Street.
“Hey Mr Polluter, this is how much you’re getting for the farm that’s been in your family for 7 generations, to hell with your skyrocket valuation. Grab your BBQ and Hi Lux and piss off.”…….Not so much, msm suicide.
“Selfies with school kids and endangered species”. Well that part is correct although the rest of the sentence is unlikely to be true.
The endangered species in this is the Green Party, after all. They aren’t likely to survive the next election. I don’t think they will be missed. When you consider the stuff-up their leader has overseen in the Census (under 3 million people recorded) and one of the candidates for the XX chromosome spot is of for a fortnights holiday in New York their work ethic doesn’t really impress.
Alwyn, the quality of your comments is declining 🙁
When you consider the stuff-up their leader has overseen in the Census (under 3 million people recorded) and one of the candidates for the XX chromosome spot is of for a fortnights holiday in New York their work ethic doesn’t really impress.
I fail to see how you can possibly claim that the quality of my comments is declining. The links you include confirm precisely what I said, don’t they?
I said.
1. “Under 3 million people recorded”. Your link says that the total is nearing 3 million. Perfect score I would say.
2. “Genter is off for a fortnights holiday in New York”. Your link says she is off to attend a session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women in New York. She left on the 10th. The session lasts from the 12th to the 23rd. I suppose you could say that t is only for 12 days, not a fortnight but I’ll bet she is away for more than 14 days. http://www.unwomen.org/en/csw/csw62-2018
Spot on for accuracy
That looks like a 100% record to me. Do you ever get close to that?
That looks like a 100% record to me. Do you ever get close to that?
No, never, my PB is 97% (but that was some time ago) so your 100% hit rate is very impressive indeed.
However, I don’t want to burst your well-deserved jubilant and celebratory mood (i.e. your bubble), I really don’t, but you do realise that so far 3 million people have taken part online, don’t you?
At the end of the collection process, Stats NZ is aiming for 70 percent of households to have taken part online. [again, my emphasis]
But I agree that this amounts to a major “stuff-up” on behalf of the responsible Minister, James Shaw, and he has no choice but to hand in his resignation to the PM.
It is just not on that Julie Anne Genter goes to New York for at least (!) a whole fortnight for a meeting of only 12 days, all expenses paid for no doubt, and then does SFA. I double your bet that after that meeting she will be in full holiday mode and will have nothing else on her agenda. What’s worse, she might even rest her feet on a table with the excuse that she’s pregnant!! How long will she be away for again? Heads should roll for this crime to the NZ Taxpayer.
It is good that there are still honest people holding this Government to account and in particular that CS faction who call themselves the Green Party – those water melons can never be trusted near power or with NZ Taxpayers money, that’s for sure.
And I do apologise; your latest comment was of the superior quality that we have come to relish here. I mean, you cannot argue with 100% accuracy, can you?
Wow!
You must have been drinking something very potent.
On the other hand I think your comment even exceeds mine in its flamboyance, and I was trying very hard.
You win. Your comment is funnier than mine.
Alwyn, are you complaining that the Labour/NZ First government have not confiscated the required land to speed up construction?
From the linked article it sounds like the delays are caused by NZTA negotiating in good faith to acquire the land.
Do you have any inside knowledge of the situation?
And what does this bypass have to do with promises made about the new road? AFAIK work/planning on the new road has not been delayed.
See my comment to DTB about how you can obtain needed land. It isn’t “confiscation”. You have to pay a fair price and in practice it is the only way that any roads, or railways, can be built.
As far as the new road is concerned the best we are being promised is that we might hear about options by the end of March. “might”.
Hardly what Little was saying last year is it?
“It will be built as quickly as possible, using the powers available to the Government to speed up consenting and planning, and ensuring funding is immediately available.”
My understanding is that compulsory acquisition via the public works act is usually a last resort. Otherwise why is NZTA currently negotiating rather than acquiring?
So you agree that there were no pre election promises regarding the delayed Ashhurst bypass?
Regarding the new road, I have not seen any evidence that that work/planning has been delayed, or that the government is not using all powers available to them. Can you provide any?
It is nothing short of astonishing that the man who aggressively countered his government’s critics with the assertion, “There is no alternative!”, is unable to connect the dots between an economic and political system which insists that it represents the terminus of history, and these rising levels of political disillusionment and despair. If this, the neoliberal world order, is as good as it gets; and if all the truly meaningful decision-making powers have been taken out of the hands of politicians; then what, in God’s name, is the point of casting a vote?
It is time we took our power back away from the institutions that are designed to keep capitalism going despite it’s obvious failure to provide our society with what it needs.
This disgraceful incident should never have been allowed to occur in the first place …
Woman breaks leg at Middlemore hospital after having epidural for birth! Despite complaining of numbness in her right leg after the birth and having mobility difficulties, the new mother was forced to walk by the duty staff nurse. She fell, causing her right leg to collapse under her, fracturing her tibia!
The resulting bullshit and spin used by the hospital department management/hierarchy is incredibly mind boggling! What’s the matter with using plain simple language, while also acknowledging the accident was the responsibility of the duty nurse and the hospital, something which is blatantly obvious?
It will be interesting to see who is held accountable for this woman’s preventable accident while still in the care of the hospital!
They will blame the midwife if there is enough fuss. Never the hospital because it’s standard practise to require you to leave within a few hours of giving birth naturally and within 24 hours of a Caesarean. (At least that was what our family was told).
In the old days people stayed for 7 days in a maternity hospital and were taught how to care for the baby and had meals etc provided so you could concentrate on getting well and bonding.
Now to save the government money you bundle your newborn into a carseat within hours and have to go else where.
Possibly that explains our abuse statistics, it’s not exactly a good start for a baby and a Mother or family.
Also unless you went private you would be hard pressed to see a obstetrician in the leadup and during the birth of a baby.
After a few days in a birth centre if you choose to go to one, the after care goes to the charity Plunket because the government does not provide any or see the need to provide any government run after birth care.
Or as my Doctor would put it.
“You must remember that life is a terminal disease”
My Mother would have been more succinct
“Nobody gets out of here alive”
Theres a different between part funding a charity which needs to fund raise and accept donations from corporates than a fully funding NZ maternity aftercare service that is focused 100% on the job at hand (not fundraising).
I’d say the neoliberal business model of maternity care is NOT working if you look at the abuse statistics of this county and our poor efforts for children’s care and wellbeing and our dropping ranking is the world on this.
Our birth stats are going down. We aren’t a land of milk and honey and a good place to bring up children any more, except to people who can afford to buy what they need to compensate for NZ basic care, or come from somewhere really crowded, or have been in poverty or a refugee camp.
There were 1,608 fewer births and 429 fewer deaths compared with 2015.
The total fertility rate dropped to a low of 1.87 births per woman, compared with an annual average of about 2.02 from 1980–2015.
The infant mortality rate was 3.6 deaths per 1,000 live births.
(Between 1980 and 1986 we seemed to be below the natural increase, and are beginning to show now a similar trend.)
When I had my kids in the early 80’s I was allowed to stay in the maternity ward for 5 days.
For me, it was crucial, because I got the help that I needed to establish breast-feeding. (Not necessarily an easy or straightforward process.
Sadly several women there switched to bottles because they simply didn’t get the necessary help and advice.
There are many reasons for early mobization post anaesthesia, chiefly prevention of thrombsis, if this woman had died of a pulmonary embolism because she was not encouraged to mobilise it would be the health professional still at fault. In the not too distant past women were bed ridden for days post partum and the died of preventable causes, so whats one broken leg compared to the lives saved.
Oh sounds a bit regimented. What is appropriate for this patient at this particular time. Don’t want people afraid of nurses and hospitals do we, no Nurse Ratched stuff.
I take on board your comparison with life threatening DVTs. However, it is definitely not satisfactory for a new mother to suffer a fractured leg immediate post partum, through staff failure to recognise a problem existed after receiving epidural anaesthesia. This is something which could have been avoided had the nurse been doing her job as an observant, caring health professional. Negligence is not conducive towards a good start for the new mother or her baby.
During the time I had my two children, it was mandatory for new mothers to rest up, bond with baby and establish good feeding patterns in the maternity hospital, usually for about a week or thereabouts. Most of us mothers were encouraged to move around, at a level that was comfortable for us, but not forced if mobility caused pain or difficulties. Also during that post natal period, the hospital physiotherapist visited, giving appropriate exercise programmes to assist mobility, as well as to prevent DVTs from forming. This system worked quite well for most new mothers and their babies.
Seems these days good, positive, as well as respectful maternity care is non existent. More the pity!
I’d like to see ACC expanded to include sickness – basically turn it into income protection insurance for illness and injury. This could partly be funded by removing the requirement to provide sick leave, and levying employers more on the savings. Any thoughts?
Sick leave can be utilised for other than the worker’s own sickness, no matter what the company allows or is told. It is a safety net for families, though may not be used because of harsh necessity and resentment by the business against those not collapsing at work. My sister was a teacher, very devoted and hard working, and the management of her school were a bit snippy when she needed time off. Don’t think of cutting sick leave is my thought.
Craig H
You are so trusting. The ACC rules can be changed, subverted etc. They already are a different beast than when they were started. The things they do to the needy people on their books, and the ones the reject, are not good reading. I think they are reducing costs by putting people’s applications through a computerised system, ie being sorted by robot brains. Some of the humans weren’t so good because the government set pet medical doctors onto them to decide whether they could come in without being bitten, or have to endure a fight. Don’t think ACC is some reliably good organisation to help the community. I think they are something useful because their reserves look good on a balance sheet for the country so we can keep a low interest rate on our borrowing, so we can have some money circulating like a real economy.
The Holidays Act can be changed too if the government of the day decides to. Provided the ACC Act sets the entitlements into legislation rather than regulations, it’s as safe (or not) as any other legislative entitlement.
Too much power in one hands can create misery. Don’t think you quite understand how our government slowly has unwound, and sometimes quickly, legislative entitlements. Sorry to burst your bubble.
The point wasn’t to see how many cars could be crushed it was to stop the cars being in such way they would be crushed
The yobs cut way down on what they were doing so Jude scored a major win on that point
And shes number 4 with a portfolio that will see her get media attention so any faltering in the polls and Jude can lead National to the promised land so its a win-win-win situation all round (except for Twyford and Labour of course)
The Government, and it’s Minister, Phil Twyford what to build shitloads of houses.. Lots of New Zealanders want shitloads of houses built, fast. The National Party, and it’s aspiring leader, Judith Collins want to stop them doing this.
I’m terribly sorry ED I never realised you were hard of hearing.
This is an interview about the very important rights of animals. Ali G invited animal rights ambassadors to talk with him about how we should treat animals. The guests did their best to explain why it is wrong to perform experiments on animals at home, an important question that was asked was –
“Would you eat a chicken if another chicken would die if you said no!”
Terribly sorry Stunned Mullet but you have been coming on TS long enough to know that we like to have some information about what is going on in your brain, what point it wants to make about what the video contains so we know whether we want to watch it. Is it going to be fun, or informative, or like something that happens in NZ that is worthy of notice etc.
What gets me is not just what Keating says, but the conditions that underpin it. It seems as if the “professional politicians” that replaced the old representative ones are inhibited from meaningfully engaging in realpolitik, due to their subservience to corporate and financial interests. The fact is, the whole world did not magically transform into dedicated adherents to the so-called Washington Consensus, and their response has been limited to bullying and cajoling those who have not succumbed: “It won’t happen overnight, but it will happen”, they seem to think. Keating refers to this approach as a “lack of strategy” and praises Trump for at least trying.
The last two sentences: Mr Keating said Russia had the power to “obliterate” the US, and urged Mr Trump to maintain a workable relationship with the Kremlin.
“Russia alone has the capacity to obliterate the United States. If you’re a country that lives under the threat of obliteration, you generally should have a policy.”
I wonder if we should campaign to oust David Parker for signing the TPP. He hasn’t kept his promises. It isn’t in the public interest. And most importantly it won’t bring down the coalition. But it will make them think long and hard before shafting New Zealand again.
The President went to Pennsylvania, singled out a black Congresswoman from California, and called her stupid. That’s not race-baiting. That’s racist.— Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) March 11, 2018
Two weeks in a row. Apparently the president calling a black Congresswoman “low IQ” is part of the stump speech now.— Matthew Miller (@matthewamiller) March 11, 2018
Russian President Vladimir Putin has suggested Jews and other minorities in Russia, including Tatars and Ukranians, could be to blame for meddling in the US presidential election.
“Maybe they’re not even Russians,” he told NBC News. “Maybe they’re Ukrainians, Tatars, Jews, just with Russian citizenship. Even that needs to be checked.”
Perhaps tRump has no intention of being voted out.
BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts state secretary William Galvin is strongly opposing President Donald Trump’s proposal to dispatch Secret Service agents to polling places during federal elections.
A provision of the Homeland Security reauthorization bill would allow armed Secret Service agents to enter polling locations at the direction of the President. Galvin says he is “horrified that this is even under consideration.”
TS …. something in recent times you come to love to hate.
The commenters with such a love of their own arseholes and self-adjuged intelligence. The egos. The dried up old public servants trying to remain relevant as contributors (probably … i was going to mention Paekakariki or Browns Bay …. best not go there or it’ll provoke an Ad-like epistle justifying ilk and neo-lib, or at least neo-lib-lite ideology).
An ability to sympathise rather than empathise….there goes the progressive Chardonnay TVNZ7 leftie.
Time is running out though folks. The game is up…. which is why NZ elected a change. Hopefully the MMP govts participants may soon come to realise what put them there, and why, and what is expected of them.
The Ardern Government’s chickens came home to roost yesterday with the news that the country is short of natural gas. In 2018, Labour banned offshore petroleum exploration, and industry executives say that the attendant loss of confidence by the industry impacted overall investment in onshore gas fields. Energy Resources Minister ...
Hi,If you’ve been digging through the newly launched Webworm store (orders are being dispatched worldwide as I type!) you’ll have noticed the best model we had was Calvin.This is Calvin.Calvin.Calvin is 7, and is the son of my producer over on Flightless Bird, Rob — aka “Wobby Wob”. Rob also ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). Climate change is everywhere. And when something's everywhere it can feel like it's nowhere. So how do we get our heads ...
Its a law like gravity: whenever a right-wing government is elected, they start attacking democracy. And now, after talking to their Republican and Tory and Fidesz chums at the International Democracy Union forum in Wellington, National is doing it here, announcing plans to remove election-day enrolment. Or, to put it ...
Yesterday Winston Peters focussed his attention on the important matter at hand. Tweeting. Like the former, and quite possibly next, orange POTUS, from whom he takes much of his political strategy, Winston is an avid X’er.His message didn’t resemble an historic address this time. In fact it was more reminiscent ...
Buzz from the Beehive A significant decline in natural gas production has given Resources Minister Shane Jones an opportunity to reiterate his enthusiasm for the mining and burning of coal. For good measure, he has praised an announcement from Genesis Energy that it will resume importing coal. He and Energy ...
“Follow the money” is the classic directive to journalists trying to understand where power and influence lie in society. In terms of uncovering who influences various New Zealand political parties and governments, it therefore pays to look at who is funding them. The political parties are legally obliged to make ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Here is my subjective ranking on a “most-left” to “most-right” scale of most of our major NZ Universities, with some anecdotal (and at times amusing) evidence to back up the claim.Extreme Left Auckland University of TechnologyEvidenceThe ...
Eric Crampton writes – I hadn’t thought about this one until a helpful email showed up in my inbox.It’s pretty obvious that income tax thresholds should automatically index with inflation – whether to anchor the thresholds in percentiles of the income distribution, or to anchor against a real ...
Jacqui Van Der Kaay writes – Parliament’s speaker had no option but to refer Green MP Julie Anne Genter to the Privileges Committee for her behaviour in the House last Wednesday evening. The incident, in which she crossed the floor to wave a book and yell at National ...
Gary Judd writes – The Dean of the law school at the Auckland University of Technology is someone called Khylee Quince. I have been sent her social media posting in which she has, over the LawNews headline “Senior King’s Counsel files complaint about compulsory tikanga Maori studies for ...
Cleo Paskal writes – WASHINGTON, D.C.: ‘Many of us have received phone calls from [the opposing camp] telling them if they join the camp they will be given projects for their wards and $300,000 [around US$35,000] each’, says former Malaita Premier Daniel Suidani. The elections in Solomon Islands aren’t ...
With hindsight, it was inevitable that (a) Hamas would agree to the ceasefire deal brokered by Egypt and Qatar and that ( b) Israel would then immediately launch attacks on Rafah, regardless. We might have hoped the concessions made by Hamas would cause Israel to desist from slaughtering thousands more ...
Placards and mourners outside the Kilbirnie Mosque following the Christchurch terror attack: MSD has terminated the Kaiwhakaoranga service, which has been used by 415 families since the attacks. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The Government’s pledge to only cut ‘back office’ staff rather than ‘frontline’ services is on increasingly shaky ground, with ...
There’s been a few smaller public transport announcements over the last week or so that I thought I’d cover in a single post. Fareshare I’ve long called for Auckland Transport to offer a way to enable employer-subsidised public transport options. The need for this took on even more importance ...
Parliament’s speaker had no option but to refer Green MP Julie Anne Genter to the Privileges Committee for her behaviour in the House last Wednesday evening. The incident, in which she crossed the floor to wave a book and yell at National Minister Matt Doocey, reflects poorly on Genter and ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Who likes being sneered at? Nobody. Worse yet, when the sneerer has their facts all wrong, and might well be an idiot.The sneer in question is The adults are in charge now, and it is a sneer offered in retort to criticism of this new Government, no matter how well ...
When in government, Labour pushed to extend the Parliamentary term to four years, to reduce accountability and our ability to vote out a bad government. And now, they're trying to do it through the member's ballot, with a Four-Year Parliamentary Term Legislation Bill. The bill at least requires a referendum ...
A ballot for a single Member's Bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill (Hūhana Lyndon) The bill would prevent the government from stealing Māori land in breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. It ...
Simeon Brown, alongside Wayne Brown, is favouring a political figleaf now in exchange for loading up tens of millions in extra interest costs on Auckland ratepayers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s is pushing back hard at suggestions from Local Government Minister Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown ...
Buzz from the Beehive One headline-grabber from the Beehive yesterday was the OECD’s advice that the government must bring the Budget deficit under control or face higher interest rates. Another was the announcement of a $1.9 billion “investment” in Corrections over the next four years. In the best interests of ...
Chris Trotter writes – Had Zheng He’s fleet sailed east, not west, in the early Fifteenth Century, how different our world would be. There is little reason to suppose that the sea-going junks of the Ming Dynasty, among the largest and most sophisticated sailing vessels ever constructed, would have failed ...
David Farrar writes – Two articles give a useful contrast in balance. Both seek to be neutral explainer articles. This one in the Herald on Social Investment covers the pros and cons nicely. It links to critical pieces and talks about aspects that failed and aspects that are more ...
The tikanga regulations will compel law students to be taught that a system which does not conform with the rule of law is nevertheless law which should be observed and applied…Gary Judd KC writes – I have made a complaint to Parliament’s Regulation ...
The future of Te Huia, the train between Hamilton and Auckland, has been getting a lot of attention recently as current funding for it is only in place till the end of June. The government initially agreed to a five year trial, through to April 2026, but that was subject ...
TL;DR: Hamas has just agreed to Israel’s ceasefire plan. Nelson hospital’s rebuild has been cut back to save money. The OECD suggests New Zealand break up network monopolies, including in electricity. PM Christopher Luxon’s news conference on a prison expansion announcement last night was his messiest yet.Here’s my top six ...
A homicide in Ponsonby, a manhunt with a killer on the run. The nation’s leader stands before a press conference reassuring a frightened nation that he’ll sort it out, he’ll keep them safe, he’ll build some new prison spaces.Sorry what? There’s a scary dude on the run with a gun ...
Hi,I know it’s been awhile since there’s been any Webworm merch — and today that all changes!Over the last four months, I’ve been working with New Zealand artist Jess Johnson to create a series of t-shirts, caps and stickers that are infused with Webworm DNA — and as of right ...
The OECD’s chief economist yesterday laid it on the line for the new Government: bring the deficit under control or face higher Reserve Bank interest rates for longer. And to bring the deficit under control, she meant not borrowing for tax cuts. But there was more. Without policy changes—introducing a ...
After a hiatus of over four months Selwyn Manning and I finally got it together to re-start the “A View from Afar” podcast series. We shall see how we go but aim to do 2 episodes per month if possible. … Continue reading → ...
In 2008, the UK Parliament passed the Climate Change Act 2008. The law established a system of targets, budgets, and plans, with inbuilt accountability mechanisms; the aim was to break the cycle of empty promises and replace it with actual progress towards emissions reduction. The law was passed with near-universal ...
Buzz from the Beehive Local Water Done Well – let’s be blunt – is a silly name, but the first big initiative to put it into practice has gone done well. This success is reflected in the headline on an RNZ report:District mayors welcome Auckland’s new water deal with ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate ConnectionsA farmworker cleans the solar panels of a solar water pump in the village of Jagadhri, Haryana Country, India. (Photo credit: Prashanth Vishwanathan/ IWMI) Decisions made in India over the next few years will play a key role in global ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – The Children’s Minister, Karen Chhour, intends to repeal Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 because it creates conflict between claimed Crown Treaty obligations and the child’s best interests. In her words, “Oranga Tamariki’s governing principles and its act should be colour ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. ...
Brian Easton writes – This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be (I will report on them ...
TL;DR:Winston Peters is reported to have won a budget increase for MFAT. David Seymour wanted his Ministry of Regulation to be three times bigger than the Productivity Commission. Simeon Brown is appointing a Crown Monitor to Watercare to protect the Claytons Crown Guarantee he had to give ratings agencies ...
The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. Carr had made highly ...
I could be a florist'Round the corner from Rye LaneI'll be giving daisies to craziesBut, baby, I'll wrap you up real safe Oh, I can give you flowers At the end of every dayFor the center of your table, a rainbowIn case you have people 'round to stay Depending on ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to May 12 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Finance Minister Nicola Willis will give a pre-budget speech on Thursday.Parliament sits from Question Time at 2pm on ...
The price of the foreign affairs “reset” is now becoming apparent, with Defence set to get a funding boost in the Budget. Finance Minister Nicola Willis has confirmed that it will be one of the few votes, apart from Health and Education and possibly Police, which will get an increase ...
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 28, 2024 thru Sat, May 4, 2024. Story of the week "It’s straight out of Big Tobacco’s playbook. In fact, research by John Cook and his colleagues ...
Yesterday I received come lovely feedback following my Star Wars themed newsletter. A few people mentioned they’d enjoyed reading the personal part at the beginning.I often begin newsletters with some memories, or general thoughts, before commencing the main topic. This hopefully sets the mood and provides some context in which ...
April 30 was going to be the day we’d be calling Mum from London to wish her a happy birthday. Then it became the day we would be going to St. Paul's at Evensong to remember her. The aim of the cathedral builders was to find a way to make their ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Can’t remember the last book by a Kiwi author you read? Think the NZ government should spend less on the arts in favor of helping the homeless? If so, as far as Newsroom is concerned, you probably deserve to be called a cultural ignoramus ...
Eric Crampton writes – Grudges are bad. Better to move on. But it can be fun to keep a couple of really trivial ones, so you’re not tempted to have other ones. For example, because of the rootkit fiasco of 2005, no Sony products in our household. ...
A new report warns an estimated third of the adult population have unmet need for health care.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāHere’s the six key things I learned about Aotaroa’s political economy this week around housing, climate and poverty:Politics - Three opinion polls confirmed support for PM Christopher Luxon ...
Today is May the fourth. Which was just a regular day when my mother took me to see the newly released Star Wars at the Odeon in Rotorua. The queue was right around the corner. Some years later this day became known as Star Wars Day, the date being a ...
Buzz from the Beehive Much more media attention is being paid to something Winston Peters said about former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr than to a speech he delivered to the New Zealand China Council. One word is missing from the speech: AUKUS. But AUKUS loomed large in his considerations ...
Is the economy in another long stagnation? If so, why?This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be ...
The annual list of who's been bribing our politicians is out, and journalists will no doubt be poring over it to find the juiciest and dirtiest bribes. The government's fast-track invite list is likely to be a particular focus, and we already know of one company on the list which ...
In the weeks after the October 7 Hamas attacks on Southern Israel I wrote about the possible 2nd, 3rd and even 4th order effects of the conflict. These included new fronts being opened in the West Bank (with Hamas), Golan … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – It is one of the oldest truisms that there is never a good time for MPs to get a pay rise. This week’s announcement of pay raises of around 2.8% backdated to last October could hardly have come at a worse time, with the ...
David Farrar writes – Newshub reports: Newshub can reveal a fresh allegation of intimidation against Green MP Julie-Anne Genter. Genter is subject to a disciplinary process for aggressively waving a book in the face of National Minister Matt Doocey in the House – but it’s not the first time ...
The Treasury has published a paper today on the global productivity slowdown and how it is playing out in New Zealand: The productivity slowdown: implications for the Treasury’s forecasts and projections. The Treasury Paper examines recent trends in productivity and the potential drivers of the slowdown. Productivity for the whole economy ...
Winston Peters’ comments about former Australian foreign minister look set to be an ongoing headache for both him and Luxon. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guests on Gaza and ...
These puppet strings don't pull themselvesYou're thinking thoughts from someone elseHow much time do you think you have?Are you prepared for what comes next?The debating chamber can be a trying place for an opposition MP. What with the person in charge, the speaker, typically being an MP from the governing ...
The land around Lyme Regis, where Meryl Streep once stood, in a hood, on the Cobb, is falling into the sea.MerylThe land around Lyme Regis, around the Cobb that made it rich, has always been falling slowly but surely into the sea. Read more ...
Photo by Jari Hytönen on UnsplashIt’s that new day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news ...
Buzz from the Beehive Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters was bound to win headlines when he set out his thinking about AUKUS in his speech to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. The headlines became bigger when – during an interview on RNZ’s Morning Report today – he criticised ...
The Post reports on how the government is refusing to release its advice on its corrupt Muldoonist fast-track law, instead using the "soon to be publicly available" refusal ground to hide it until after select committee submissions on the bill have closed. Fast-track Minister Chris Bishop's excuse? “It's not ...
As pressure on it grows, the livestock industry’s approach to the transition to Net Zero is increasingly being compared to that of fossil fuel interests. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above ...
The New Zealand Herald reports – Stats NZ has offered a voluntary redundancy scheme to all of its workers as a way to give staff some control over their “future” amidst widespread job losses in the public sector. In an update to staff this morning, seen by the Herald, Statistics New Zealand ...
On Werewolf/Scoop, I usually do two long form political columns a week. From now on, there will be an extra column each week about music and movies. But first, some late-breaking political events:The rise in unemployment numbers for the March quarter was bigger than expected – and especially sharp ...
The Green Party is welcoming the announcement by the Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop to approve most of the Wellington City Council’s District Plan recommendations. ...
David Seymour has failed to get the sweeping cuts he wanted to the free and healthy school lunch programme, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Hon Willie Jackson has been invited by the Oxford Union to debate the motion “This House Believes British Museums are not Very British’ on May 23rd. ...
Green Party MP Hūhana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of Māori land. ...
A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
A new standalone Social Investment Agency will power-up the social investment approach, driving positive change for our most vulnerable New Zealanders, Social Investment Minister Nicola Willis says. “Despite the Government currently investing more than $70 billion every year into social services, we are not seeing the outcomes we want for ...
Check against delivery Good morning. It is a pleasure to be with you to outline the Coalition Government’s approach to our first Budget. Thank you Mark Skelly, President of the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce, together with your Board and team, for hosting me. I’d like to acknowledge His Worship ...
Your Excellency Ambassador Meredith, Members of the Diplomatic Corps and Ambassadors from European Union Member States, Ministerial colleagues, Members of Parliament, and other distinguished guests, Thank you everyone for joining us. Ladies and gentlemen - In diplomacy, we often speak of ‘close’ and ‘long-standing’ relations. ...
The Therapeutic Products Act (TPA) will be repealed this year so that a better regime can be put in place to provide New Zealanders safe and timely access to medicines, medical devices and health products, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello announced today. “The medicines and products we are talking about ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop, today released his decision on twenty recommendations referred to him by the Wellington City Council relating to its Intensification Planning Instrument, after the Council rejected those recommendations of the Independent Hearings Panel and made alternative recommendations. “Wellington notified its District Plan on ...
Rape Awareness Week (6-10 May) is an important opportunity to acknowledge the continued effort required by government and communities to ensure that all New Zealanders can live free from violence, say Ministers Karen Chhour and Louise Upston. “With 1 in 3 women and 1 in 8 men experiencing sexual violence ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government will be delivering a more efficient Healthy School Lunches Programme, saving taxpayers approximately $107 million a year compared to how Labour funded it, by embracing innovation and commercial expertise. “We are delivering on our commitment to treat taxpayers’ money ...
New research on the impacts of extreme weather on coastal marine habitats in Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay will help fishery managers plan for and respond to any future events, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. A report released today on research by Niwa on behalf of Fisheries New Zealand ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters will lead a broad political delegation on a five-stop Pacific tour next week to strengthen New Zealand’s engagement with the region. The delegation will visit Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Tuvalu. “New Zealand has deep and ...
There has been a material decline in gas production according to figures released today by the Gas Industry Co. Figures released by the Gas Industry Company show that there was a 12.5 per cent reduction in gas production during 2023, and a 27.8 per cent reduction in gas production in the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins tonight announced the recipients of the Minister of Defence Awards of Excellence for Industry, saying they all contribute to New Zealanders’ security and wellbeing. “Congratulations to this year’s recipients, whose innovative products and services play a critical role in the delivery of New Zealand’s defence capabilities, ...
Welcome to you all - it is a pleasure to be here this evening.I would like to start by thanking Greg Lowe, Chair of the New Zealand Defence Industry Advisory Council, for co-hosting this reception with me. This evening is about recognising businesses from across New Zealand and overseas who in ...
It is a pleasure to be speaking to you as the Minister for Digitising Government. I would like to thank Akolade for the invitation to address this Summit, and to acknowledge the great effort you are making to grow New Zealand’s digital future. Today, we stand at the cusp of ...
New Zealand is urging both Israel and Hamas to agree to an immediate ceasefire to avoid the further humanitarian catastrophe that military action in Rafah would unleash, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The immense suffering in Gaza cannot be allowed to worsen further. Both sides have a responsibility to ...
A new online data dashboard released today as part of the Government’s school attendance action plan makes more timely daily attendance data available to the public and parents, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. The interactive dashboard will be updated once a week to show a national average of how ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced Rosemary Banks will be New Zealand’s next Ambassador to the United States of America. “Our relationship with the United States is crucial for New Zealand in strategic, security and economic terms,” Mr Peters says. “New Zealand and the United States have a ...
The Government is considering creating a new tier of minerals permitting that will make it easier for hobby miners to prospect for gold. “New Zealand was built on gold, it’s in our DNA. Our gold deposits, particularly in regions such as Otago and the West Coast have always attracted fortune-hunters. ...
Minister for Trade Todd McClay today announced that New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will commence negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA). Minister McClay met with his counterpart UAE Trade Minister Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi in Dubai, where they announced the launch of negotiations on a ...
New Zealand Sign Language Week is an excellent opportunity for all Kiwis to give the language a go, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. This week (May 6 to 12) is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week. The theme is “an Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhere” and aims to ...
Six tertiary students have been selected to work on NASA projects in the US through a New Zealand Space Scholarship, Space Minister Judith Collins announced today. “This is a fantastic opportunity for these talented students. They will undertake internships at NASA’s Ames Research Center or its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where ...
New Zealanders will be safer because of a $1.9 billion investment in more frontline Corrections officers, more support for offenders to turn away from crime, and more prison capacity, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says. “Our Government said we would crack down on crime. We promised to restore law and order, ...
The OECD’s latest report on New Zealand reinforces the importance of bringing Government spending under control, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The OECD conducts country surveys every two years to review its members’ economic policies. The 2024 New Zealand survey was presented in Wellington today by OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The Acumen Edelman Trust barometer reported that New Zealand’s political trust score now sits below the global average, a topic explored in a recent discussion paper by Maxim Institute. ...
Greenpeace Aotearoa executive director Russel Norman says, "The Fast-Track Bill is the most damaging piece of environmental legislation any Government has introduced in living memory. People are angry, and it’s time to march." ...
“Show us the bird,” I found myself muttering at times while reading Hard by the Cloud House by Peter Walker, a deeply thoughtful, often hilarious, at times rambling – but somehow delightfully so – search for the story of a big bird. But not just any bird: the bird. This ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jack Marley, Environment + Energy Editor, UK edition DPVUE .images/Shutterstock Your home was probably designed for a climate that no longer exists. As long as humanity continues to burn fossil fuel, padding the heat-trapping blanket of gases in Earth’s atmosphere, the ...
A senior lawyer has filed a complaint about tikanga becoming a required law school module. Law lecturer Carwyn Jones explains what he’s getting wrong. “…the first law of Aotearoa, a law that served the needs of tangata whenua for a thousand years before the arrival of tauiwi.”– Ani Mikaere ...
In 2019, an Auckland woman woke up from surgery to find that she had undergone a treatment she didn’t consent to. She tells Alex Casey about her experience. From her very first period at the age of 14, Laura experienced “debilitating” levels of pain that forced her to withdraw from ...
Comment: Concerns about the state of the economy are creeping up to the top of firms’ list of challenges. That’s evident in both surveys and the tone of our recent client discussions. Skimming the past few weeks of eco-news, it’s not hard to see why. – Retail card spending fell ...
Opinion: Could former co-leader James Shaw still make a difference to working with National? The post How the Greens could be contenders appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Opinion: What if we got rid of our existing drug laws and replaced them with a new law that legalised and carefully regulated all psychoactive substances, from cannabis to MDMA, methamphetamine and LSD to magic mushrooms? And which also included legal drugs such as alcohol and nicotine. “Wow,” you might ...
In the gloom following director-general Al Morrison’s job cuts in 2013, the Department of Conservation restructured its operations arm. Eleven conservancy districts were whittled into six new “conservation delivery” regions, under which the Rēkohu/Wharekauri/Chatham Islands area, comprising 40 scattered islands more than 800km east of Christchurch, was tethered to the ...
One of th e country’s top litigation lawyers says New Zealand is seeing a lift in court action between companies. Chapman Tripp partner Justin Graham, who oversees a team of around 80 litigation specialists, says the courts are now so log-jammed that it’s taking over two years to get cases ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Albanese government is talking up the crucial role of gas as a transition fuel “through to 2050 and beyond”. In a gas strategy to be released on Thursday, the government envisages the fuel’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Next week the government will again next try to get its legislation through to deal with non-citizens who won’t cooperate with efforts to deport them. The bill, which the opposition and crossbench refused to rush ...
A long-term project that will set out an alternative vision for Aotearoa that looks beyond the narrow confines of the policy straight jacket adopted by successive governments. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bree Hurst, Associate Professor, Faculty of Business and Law, QUT, Queensland University of Technology TK Kurikawa/Shutterstock A much-awaited report into Coles and Woolworths has found what many customers have long believed – Australia’s big supermarkets engage in price gouging. What started ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daniel Ghezelbash, Associate Professor and Deputy Director, Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, UNSW Law & Justice, UNSW Sydney The Albanese government wanted to avoid an inquiry into its migration amendment bill. The report, handed down yesterday by a senate committee that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joo-Cheong Tham, Professor, Melbourne Law School, The University of Melbourne Lobbying is at the heart of government. Who has access to and influence over key government officials shapes the decisions governments make – and how they make them. The ability to influence ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Myfany Turpin, Associate Professor, Ethnomusicology, Linguistics and Ethnobiology, University of Sydney The act representing Australia at this year’s Eurovision contest has sadly not qualified for the grand final. Yet for Zaachariaha Fielding and Michael Ross, the duo that makes up Electric Fields, ...
In announcing changes to the school lunches programme, David Seymour said kids would no longer be served ‘woke’ foods. To clear up any confusion, The Spinoff has compiled a guide to the wokeness levels of some common food items. Apple = NOT WOKE Avocado = WOKE Avocado, smashed = EVEN ...
The Minister Responsible for GCSB and the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security have been notified of this review, and have been provided a finalised Terms of Reference. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Minglu Chen, Senior Lecturer, Government and International Relations, University of Sydney Robert Way/Shutterstock As the past few years have illustrated so clearly, the Australia-China relationship is complicated. As such, it is crucial for Australians to develop a more nuanced understanding of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mariana Campbell, Research Lecturer, Conservation, Charles Darwin University Marilyn Connell Australian freshwater turtles are facing an alarming trend. Almost half of these species are listed as vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered. The Mary River turtle (Elusor macrurus) is one of Australia’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Debbie Passey, Digital Health Research Fellow, The University of Melbourne Algorithms have become integral to our lives. From social media apps to Netflix, algorithms learn your preferences and prioritise the content you are shown. Google Maps and artificial intelligence are nothing without ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Josephine Barbaro, Associate Professor, Principal Research Fellow, Psychologist, La Trobe University Unsplash We’ve come a long way in terms of understanding that everyone thinks, interacts and experiences the world differently. In the past, autistic people, people with attention deficit hyperactive disorder ...
PNG Post-Courier Papua New Guinea’s deputy opposition leader James Nomane has accused the government of “reckless economic management” that has forced devaluation to manage loan repayments in foreign currency and placate the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Prime Minister James Marape “must stop lying to the people of Papua New Guinea”, ...
Welcome to The Spinoff Bookseller Confessional, in which we get to know Aotearoa’s booksellers. This week: Jane Arthur, author of Brown Bird, and former bookseller at Good Books.The book I wish I’d writtenI have been working on not comparing myself to others. On accepting that what I can ...
The final decision on the Wellington District Plan makes it official: High-density housing is legal across most of Wellington. Housing minister Chris Bishop has announced his decision on the Wellington District Plan, approving a series of amendments to radically upzone most of Wellington, allowing tens of thousands of new townhouses ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. “Follow the money” is the classic directive to journalists trying to understand where power and influence lie in society. In terms of uncovering who influences various New Zealand political parties and governments, it therefore pays to ...
RNZ News As Israel presses ahead with strikes in Rafah and seizing the Rafah crossing from Egypt, aid agencies are sounding the alarm of a “catastrophic humanitarian situation”. Rafah was “significant” because it was the only part in Gaza that had not been terribly damaged by the conflict, United Nations ...
With funding set to be scrapped for the Hamilton-Auckland commuter train, Te Huia enthusiast Georgie Dansey argues for it to be thrown a lifeline. It’s 5.45am and the chain of my crappy old bike falls off slugging up the one hill in Hamilton. I contemplate yeeting the bike into the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anna Cooke, Honorary Fellow, School of the Environment, The University of Queensland We feel ecological grief when we lose places, species or ecosystems we value and love. These losses are a growing threat to mental health and wellbeing globally. We all see ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shauna Brail, Associate Professor, Institute for Management & Innovation, University of Toronto A shift to hybrid and remote work continues to affect worker presence in Toronto’s downtown.(Shutterstock) Downtown Toronto, the core of Canada’s largest city, continues to reel from the lingering ...
Responding to an Auditor-General's report slamming failures in the administration of the 2023 General Election, Taxpayers’ Union Policy and Public Affairs Manager, James Ross, said: ...
Productivity apps now make up a big chunk of the software market. But do they work? And why do they all have AI integrations?Despite being firmly on the record as a physical planner fan, I sometimes dream of something better than my pretty diary and its scrawled, ugly, interior ...
The Taxpayers’ Union says the Beehive need to lead by example, following reports of more than $50,000 spent upgrading video conferencing equipment and furniture in the Prime Minister’s office. Taxpayers’ Union Campaign Manager, Connor Molloy, ...
An objective list of the 50 most powerful people in New Zealand, as judged by the Spinoff Editorial Board. It’s power list season, baby, and we want in on the action. Sure, there’s the rich list and the powerful “c-suite” list and the young people with power (hmmm) but here, ...
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Stewart Sowman-Lund looks at the growing concern around the world in this extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. What’s all this? When Covid-19 arrived on our shores in early 2020, some argued we were too slow, or crucially, ill-prepared for a pandemic. So ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Franco Montalto, Professor of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering and Director, Sustainable Water Resource Engineering Laboratory, Drexel University Water runs into a storm drain in a Los Angeles alley on Aug. 19, 2023, during Tropical Storm Hilary.Citizen of the Planet/Universal Images ...
The inquest into the death of Gore toddler Lachlan Jones has turned up a new witness who says he saw two teenagers and a small child in a high vis vest in the area where the boy’s body was found the day he died. Lachie’s body was discovered face up ...
Stories from the tenancy trenches, featuring spider infestations, cupboard rats and same-sex discrimination. Lucy’s brother was living in a damp 1930s building in Mt Eden where “he had to tie the cupboard doors closed so the rats didn’t get in”. Although he shared custody of his six-year-old son, his property ...
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Opinion: “As time passes, knowledge of the circumstances of the August 2016 outbreak will fade and its immediate impact will be lost.” This statement is from the 2017 report of the Official Inquiry into the Havelock North campylobacteriosis outbreak. The then National-led government established the inquiry after the outbreak left ...
AMP refuses to pay up.
“Insurance litigator Andrew Hooker has taken on the case for free, saying while refusing to pay out on a lapsed policy legal, Dishington was “a dead man walking” and the insurer should show some compassion.
“The very thing that led to him not paying the premium was what killed him.”
Victim had paid AMP $70,000 over several years before he became incapacitated.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12008859
The government should boot out parasitical private insurers and take over business themselves.
Yes, the gummint should immediately nationalise all insurance companies, along with banks and law firms.
the governments insurance record is nothing to rely upon…..I submit EQC and Southern Response
A.C.C.
that too
So change the government to one that doesn’t believe in neoliberalism.that was good until Key and Judge got their hands on it.
The solution again is simple.
Abandon neoliberalism.
It used to be better back when the government wasn’t using insurance and all other state services as a cash cow.
The problem is that the government stopped acting as a government and started acting as a business.
“The problem is that the government stopped acting as a government and started acting as a business.”
Thats true enough but there does remain one advantage even so….and thats the government will not declare bankruptcy (or at least not at the drop of a hat) and walk away from any proved liability
You are starting to appreciate the need to rid the country of neoliberalism.
So we didn’t have private banks, law firms and insurance companies before neoliberalism?
Of course we did.
However banks were deregulated then.
You know this, so why are you wasting my time?
I have little time for the rabid defenders of an economic system which will bring about the 6th extinction.
He may know that but I don’t, so please elaboarte.
Here are some sources than answer your question.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deregulation
https://teara.govt.nz/en/banking-and-finance/page-2
Can you cut that RW smartarse stuff solkta?
So make your mind up. Are you talking about more regulation or are you talking about nationalisation?
You obviously have little time for anybody who challenges what you write. Trolls are like that. That you would suggest that I am a defender of neoliberalism just shows how little attention you actually pay.
I cannot be bothered with your right wing nonsense.
There is nothing right wing about asking you what you are talking about. And nothing right wing about me.
Says you. You are of course the voice of reason….and a legend in you’re own mind.
We all defer to your greatness and wonder how in the fuck we can ever be ‘like’ you.
I’m depressed. I WANNA BE LOIK SOLKTA.
Yes we did. We also had state insurance, banks and law firms.
And Public Trust.
These days the public trust just screws little old ladies out of their inheritances.
I know I am one – that is a little old lady who is shortly to be an ex customer of Public Trust to protect what I hope to be able to leave to my chosen beneficiaries.
He may have spent a little too much time in Cuba over the holidays. It’s good he’s coming around though.
If we could renationalise the banks, we would be far less vulnerable to international financial interests.
If you want to know who really runs NZ, follow the money.
And a lot of that money is Chinese.
What you got against Chinese?
Have you Brady’s comments?
No. What have you got against Chinese?
Totalitarian expansionist China, you mean.
Pair of racists
Paranoia much. The comment was about Chinese (probably black) mobey…. not Chinese (as in people as a race or ethnicity). Could just as easily have been Russian or the proceeds from any other expansionist wannabe Empire
More vile racism
What is wrong with the Chinese.
I see you are throwing accustaion at others about being racist (without providing a quote)
If we could renationalise the banks
We’ve always had private banks in New Zealand.
“The government’s ownership of the BNZ, and use of it as its banker, allowed it to become the largest trading bank. It was fully nationalised in 1945.
An 1865 law which established the Post Office Savings Bank also curbed the rights of other savings banks and enabled it to absorb competitors. By the mid-1950s the Post Office Savings Bank controlled around 80% of the personal savings market.”
https://teara.govt.nz/en/banking-and-finance/page-1
We may have always had private banks, but we’ve also had strong historical Government intervention going by the above.
“The government’s ownership of the BNZ, and use of it as its banker, allowed it to become the largest trading bank. It was fully nationalised in 1945.
An 1865 law which established the Post Office Savings Bank also curbed the rights of other savings banks and enabled it to absorb competitors. By the mid-1950s the Post Office Savings Bank controlled around 80% of the personal savings market.”
https://teara.govt.nz/en/banking-and-finance/page-1
Maybe those private banks haven’t always had such a strong influence though..
The issue is New Zealand’s banks set a sector profit record in 2017, their profits rising 7.35 per cent to $5.1 billion.
Most of those banks are not NZ owned banks any more therefore NZ does not get that profit that we would get if it was owned by a NZ company.
Apparently NZ banks are one of the most profitable in the world!
(Possibly a complete lack of government regulation, such as not even requiring the bank to guarantee cash deposits, have helped us achieve this dubious honour).
The now profitable (mostly Australian owned) banks were sold off by our government for a song in the 1980’s and 1990’s, like Bank of New Zealand, etc….
Yes.
DTB
Has listed under Yes the link to –
https://thestandard.org.nz/why-insurance-should-be-a-state-monopoly/
Which contains the statement –
“A state monopoly can be run at close to cost.”
This applies to more than insurance. It can also be applied to state housing.
It was only National’s cult rigidity that caused it to bring state housing up to market level in stages to make it less noticeable and less of a financial shock to everyone.
Housing could have a base housing cost set at new based on costs. Then the aim should be to recover that cost over many years on an amortised basis, plus an allowance for repairs and maintenance each year, these to be carried out regularly. There is no reason for state housing to be provided free, the people in them may be entitled to government pensions, and out of those they might need rental housing and if it is government housing they would be able to afford it, it might be somewhat cheaper than private, but sufficient for government retrieval of cost plus.
You have listed a lot of businesses now Ed that you think that the government should take over.
Banks, Law firms, insurers.
Any others?
I would certainly ban hate speech by virulent racists as exhibited by you yesterday .
You hit a new low.
Really – Please site any hate speech from me yesterday.
Oh and answer the question.
‘
A message to everyone from the women of the world . . .
Yes change it to man and it becomes even more obvious. LOL LOL
The new style of census seems to have been a disaster. This is what the country is coming to.
I didn’t fill it in. But is sounds like it was designed with extensive consultation from Wellington committees, hence completely out of touch with modern life.
There is a certain irony about worrying about A4 sized mould in a census while not actually understanding the vast amounts of people who don’t even have a home to live in to even be included in the census or even want to be identified, or to calculate the hours of their ‘main’ job when people don’t even have a main job anymore.
Paul Little: Hard to make sense of the Census
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12008618
ECO MAORIs Kiwi Bank ac 389019048573100 Please help me to sort the nz police out
I decided against trying to use PayPal to receive donations .I decided to copy
Thestandards safe way of appealing and receiving donations I set up a Kiwi Bank AC
So he tangata the people of Aoteraoroa New Zealand who support ECO MAORI can use internet banking to make donations and know that there bank accounts are safe after they have made a donation . ECO MAORI will use the donations to SUE the nz police for all the breaches to mine and my Whano Privacy Rights & Human Rights a lot of people can see this has been happening to ECO MAORI when I win my case I will set up a
Charitable Trust and I will pay the money that I used and any extra donations into this Trust account and appeal to anyone else in Aoteraoroa who need help with finance to SUE the nz police for there in justices I will copy bank statements on this site to let he tangata the people know that ECO MAORI has Honest Honorable and transparent intentions to use your hard earned Putea Money. .
Kia Kaha Ka kite ano
Good morning Corin Dan from Q & A on TV1 I’v had to face up to the silver back effect and buy me some reading glasses lol.
Its assume that good fortune shines down on a Labour lead Governments finances the working common persons Government .
What happened to a Government that was all about the wealthy well you already know the answer to that question Te tangata Te tangata Te tangata treating the people humanly and fairly look after Papatunanuku and all her beautiful creatures and good fortune is what you will receive .
shonky gave the wealthy who did not need more money more money tax cuts and were did that come from well the poor common person he put GST up 2. 1/2 % .
shonkys famous words were I will not put up GST .
Business people you will have to use your initiative and management will have to earn the money and become more productive to support a higher wage like OUR Australian cousins do. Pay more money for the common person and Ladys equally then there is more money for business . Ka kite ano P.S I believe there should be quote rs for ladys in management at 25% Kia kaha Eco maori will still voice his opinion when I see anyone taking us down the wrong path
I got mahi kai pai
Here is a industry that would increase OUR gross domestic product by 1 Billion dollars in 3 years it will creat hundreds of jobs for our rual communitys that have had a sharp decline in income in the last 30 years .I have seen this decline with my own eyes .When I was a young man there were Kiwi fruit orchards vineyards all around the East Coast Ngati Purou sheep and Beef farms were all well mantained and employment was a lot higher than it is at the minute.
I can even remember the Helicopter flying Rob Muldoon to Rangitokia or Tiktiki I was on the other side of the Waiapu river at Tikapa this is how much Mana Te Taiwhiti had in those days . This industry will creat income with low impact to the enviroment ka kite ano
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/102044376/medical-marijuana-a-billiondollar-industry-says-budding-exporter-whose-has-staff-with-a-past
This is what happens when one does not learn the culture and does not show respect to that culture the people who are investing in there country lose out big time its time we respected these great people and there culture well thats ECO MAORI view enough said here is a link to Newsroom .
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2018/03/10/95465/rod-oram-fonterras-big-big-beingmate-problems Ka kite ano P.S its THE MONTH of the wood tiger
If teaching was a male dominated sector of OUR society they would be payed a lot more here is a link showing the disparities of in come between Ladys and men this has to change as the jobs aren’t easier because someone is a lady if fact its harder for Ladys in male dominated industrys.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/mar/10/top-paid-men-women-gender-gap Ka kite ano
Good evening News Hub on TV 3 well I have already written about some of the topics you have covered to night .
The Poverty Bay name change is a topic I would like to write about te tangata will already know my opinion of this the Original name would be nice .
Celebrating the NZ Aotearoa wars will educate all Kiwis about what happened and about OUR Maori culture I hope all Kiwis will be proud of our Maori culture as ECO MAORI is Kia kaha ka kite ano P.S its been a good weekend for our sports ka pai
You have been publishing this a lot recently (and the previous give-a-little and paypal).
How is it going?
Got a lawyer to help you as yet? You know a lot will help on a contingency basis if they think you have a case – which means you wont need the money up front.
I requested paper forms over a week ago (it said it would take upp to a week to get it to me). Still haven’t received it. Sent them a message yesterday.
I will fill it out.
But can see how the many homeless would find it to much hassle to find a way to get access to fill in the form (on or offline).
Seriously! Conservatory?!
It’s part of our +rock star+ economy that the MSM and government tells us we have.
If you only ask the right questions and send it to people who feel comfortable in their conservatory with good internet access and reliable postal service, Wellington gets the results they want.
Hi Carolyn, how were the desperate homeless folks’ census statistics gathered in the past? I don’t think foot soldier collectors toured under bridges and parks after dark.
The majority of New Zealanders considered homeless have letterboxes. I believe we are apparently the worst in the OECD because our statistics include people like me when I was living in luxury at my sister’s place.
Of course we need to address our problems but to do so we need an accurate handle on the problem.
This footage from downtown Los Angeles Christmas Day a few months ago.
For the previous census, statsnz did indeed have people taking forms around known sleeping areas. Dunno about the one just been.
I quite liked the qualitative lifestyle questions in this census. Each one individually sounds a bit silly, but if you’re a person in a dwelling with widespread mould, no conservatory, and you have difficulty cleaning yourself (which points to flexibility and activity levels) then that’s a different picture from someone who’s perfectly fine in a clean, dry home with a conservatory or two.
Yep, there was. Also going round known freedom camping spots to DoC huts. The census has always taken weeks to complete.
If you can’t clean yourself up, how reliable are your other faculties?
Also I think the problem is, the census won’t be an accurate picture because there are serious issues with how the census itself was run and people either did not know about the changes of arbitrary deciding to get people to go onto the Internet rather than using people going door to door as in previous censuses.
It you count the homeless, couch surfers, illegal immigrants, people who can’t or won’t use a computer, people who didn’t know about it, (easy to do if you seldom use mail and don’t watch TV) and non English speakers then you probably have about 25% of people who won’t complete it.
So it’s not gonna provide any answers that are meaningful to the government.
People and paper would have been better like the old days, but these days it’s easier to pretend that forms mean everybody’s needs and there is a zealous willingness to complete them. (Possibly a Wellington curse).
Cleaning requires joint flexibility and/or physical proportions within a certain range. Next time you sit down on the loo, pretend you can’t bend your back without shards of pain, or that you can’t rotate your shoulder to raise your hand up to 45 degrees. As if you’d had a vehicle injury years ago or arthritis were well-entrenched. And even if someone can’t fill in the forms, there’s provision for the forms to be filled in by caregivers (not that a physical disability comes close to meaning one doesn’t have the “faculties” to fill in a form).
The couch surfers get the forms from the people who own the couch. The homeless are sought out by census workers. As are immigrants. After all that, the results are compared with testing exercises and previous results to calculate the estimated resident population (to account for internal migration on the day and some systemic issues).
If this census does indeed miss 25% of the population compared to the one five years ago, it would stand out like a dog’s bollocks. Most of the organisation was done under the nats, so we’ll see, but I reckon you’ll find that they know what dwellings exist and will be a-knocking on any that haven’t filled in the forms.
Ahhh ok, cool, thanks.
Yes, Graeme pointed out an aspect of this new online system that I hadn’t considered. With the paper version they state things like ‘If you answered Yes move on to the next question’. If answering ‘No’ the additional questions were all visible. With the online version, if answering ‘Yes’ we don’t know of the additional questions. I quite like seeing the additional questions but in the name of KISS I can see benefits.
Yes there seemed to be quite a focus on “So what sort of houses are we all living in?” I can see that generating useful stats. Polls and surveys seem to be all over the place and to go forward as best we can, we need to know where we’re at now.
One of the changes with the move online is that the sub-menus and questions are now hidden to unaffected people. In the old days of paper it was all there but you’d be directed to specific sections base on your answer.
One question that had me wondering was the Maori decent one, 3 options yes, no, don’t know. I selected don’t know as I have several people with no past down the tree. I then got directed to a question asking if I knew my iwi. Now that should have been picked up in re-release testing, which brings the whole thing into question. What other errors where in the thing?
They might have been playing it safe in the face of human politics and existential crises.
StatsNZ have written screeds about how to deal with people who put their ethnicity down as “New Zealander”, for example.
“I didn’t fill it in”
Why not?
Do you not have a social and legal obligation to do so?
Social obligation.
You don’t know what that is.
I do which is why I mentioned it.
Are you going to try and start flame wars with personal insults everywhere?
Ah James – never change! You are astonishingly predictable for a human being(?) Thank goodness you’re here to extinguish those ‘flame wars’.
Regarding “personal insults”, I have a simple question about the opening sentence of a comment you made yesterday.
My question: Is this sentence misogynistic, when stripped of its off-colour ‘tit-for-tat’ camouflage?
“I see you true colours, shining through”, so please consider upgrading your camouflage.
If you quote the entire thing it is obvious.
A partial quote is just poor form and dishonest.
Does the quote in this link convey your intent, James, or do you want more?
https://thestandard.org.nz/doofus-of-the-week-march-10-2018/#comment-1459186
“As it stands, however, James’ opening (‘shock jock’) sentence is a nasty misogynistic slur”.
yes – Quote the entire post and you will see how obvious it is.
Funny how Ive had to ask twice now – yet you refuse to post it. Could be just be that it would show your post up to be dishonest?
Thank-you fior inviting me to quote your entire comment, I may do that in a future Open Mike.
Your continuing failure to acknowledge your misunderstanding of ‘tit for tat’, which was the only justification you offered for your initial misogynistic slur:
is genuinely puzzling.
Maybe the light will dawn if I being responses to your more objectional ‘twits’ with the following:
The remedy is in your hands. I predict that you will continue to maintain that there is nothing wrong with your initial misogynistic attack on Anne.
Yes, I wonder about the wisdom of publically claiming a refusal to complete the census. This from a recent Stuff article…
“If you don’t, here’s what Stats NZ has to say: “After census day, any household who is yet to complete their census forms will be contacted again by letter. … People who choose not to fill out their census forms can be fined between $50 and $500.”
Yes he does.
I didn’t fill it in because I didn’t know it was on, I have everything automated and use email mostly to keep in touch, therefore seldom check paper mail and I don’t normally watch TV, let alone adds.
Nothing on Facebook and did not notice any adds on The Standard or Daily Blog for it (2nd and 3rd ranking blogs) which are my NZ blog reads, or the guardian (apparently they have 10% NZ readership) therefore it was a pretty bad effort in my view if the census people were trying to reach an online community that does not watch TV or read right wing propaganda on a regular basis.
Apparently you can still fill it in, but I only noticed that because I saw a TV add as I was fast forwarding about the census.
Personally I can see A LOT of problems with their assumptions.
I’m a native English speaker what did they do for non English speakers in particular ones who don’t want to be identified or are visiting.
The other day I posted a link with some tenants who trashed a house. I really can’t see how people like that are going to be reached by this style of census, can you really see people logging onto the internet and filling it out who are in dire straits or who have major issues going on?
As for going around homeless people, didn’t the John Key government laughably go around a few cars, to do that to determine that homeless people did not want any help?
We have just found that our immigration statistic are based on people signing a form on their intentions on entering the country not actually on actual records of who is really here in this country.
Many people have multiple passports and can apparently be deported and just pop back again for years under a new name. No wonder OZ and the UK are getting tired of all our citizens piggy backing into their countries on NZ passports.
These people live on another planet if you think our government amateur attempts are the way to gather data from a widening group of people who live here.
That was a problem. Advertising can only reach those who engage with the advertising medium.
Still, now that you know about it you can ring 0800 CENSUS and organise an access code.
And I can see a lot of problems with your assumptions and they all revolve around your ignorance.
What’s one got to do with the other? Especially when John was actually lying about it.
I can’t see them being reached by any sort of census. Or do you think that census people should endanger their lives by approaching these people?
Would you have preferred John Key’s and National’s preferred idea of dropping the census because they watched the populace enough to already have the data?
Actually, it’s been very successful.
Please note that doing so is a legal requirement and that not doing so may come with a fine.
Actually, it sounds like you’re talking out your arse. Nearly three million people had filled it out online by the end of the 6th so that would be very much inline with modern life.
An A4 sized patch of mould can represent major problems with the house and as we have a housing crisis and houses that are killing people I’d say that it was fairly important.
People who don’t live in houses are being included.
People who put zero hours in their main job are noted as being unemployed. What most people don’t seem to understand is that it’s possible to extrapolate other answers from the data given.
Nearly three million people had filled it out online by the end of the 6th… we have over 4.5 million people here, so roughly a third have not filled it out.
But I sure you are right and it’s considered wildly successful by the bureaucrats having not managed to reach 33% so far.
(Against paper, which was probably a lot more successful).
Change and our reluctance to engage with it gets tougher as we age….The death of Freddie Mercury and John Bonham was the end of decent music. Remember when we repaired electric jugs, irons and taps…ahhhh the good old days.
+111
Which is a lie. Nearly three million people filled it out online but many more had filled it out on paper but they’re going to take a while to come in.
[Citation Needed]
As I said – it’s always taken weeks and months to do the census.
You’re a really good advocate for the census Draco, I like your genuine commitment. The extrapolation of census statistics would do my head in but I could imagine you digging it. Would you entertain a full-time gig there?
Depends upon what role is being offered. There is a reason why I just completed a Bch Comp Sci major programming after all.
Isn’t that an ideal qualification for a handful of very specialised roles in a place like NZ stats?
OK we need a plan Draco. From help desk to an ajar door in that dept?
Is that the ideal outcome?
I’m not taking the piss here Draco, I like you. I’d like to bounce some ideas off you. If it’s ok with you I wonder if an author here is able to send my log-in email address to you?
I might be barking up a disinterested tree, that’s cool too Draco. I still like you. Bastard.
Well done on gaining a useful qualification. I await the announcement of a Govt job (because private sector bad) with a salary just enough to live on (cos profit bad). Alternatively massive voluntary tax payments. Cos lots of tax good.
Bono epitomises everything that is wrong with the liberal elite.
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/mar/10/bonos-anti-poverty-campaign-faces-claims-of-harassment
He founded it presumably assisted greatly in funding it but I greatly doubt he is CEO and am certain he wouldn’t be head of HR so why are you deciding to piss on him for the faults of middle management type muppets employed by it?
If you did a modicum of research or had a slight amount of knowledge, you would know Bono has form.
So in this instance – there is zero allegation against Bono, There is nothing showing he was involved in lack of investigations etc. Nothing at all to infer he has done anything wrong at all.
He did however help fund a charity that has done a lot of good and one assumes invested a lot of time and financial support to it in order to help people.
Yet he sums up everything that is wrong with the liberal Elite.
Sorry – you do not make sense.
I would not expect you to understand me.
And I have no intention of explaining myself to you after your overt racism yesterday.
“your overt racism yesterday.”
again – please quote it.
Ok you two,
James, you obviously know what Ed is referring to, so stop being an idiot.
Ed, while I think that James’ comments yesterday were ‘casually’ racist, I don’t see what that has to do with the conversations here. You look like you are flaming, so I suggest you pull your head in as well.
Both of you can take this as a moderator warning. If you can’t play nicely I will take you both out of the sandpit for a time. This petty flaming puts other people off and adds nothing to the debates.
Accusations of racism is Ed’s latest tactic to not engage with anyone who dares to not agree with his every utterance.
I find Ed amusing, albeit a little bit tragic.
As I do you. And I say that given your comments on exploited immigrants who apparently should just learn to ‘move on’ in true H1/H2 pragmatism…after having been bullshiited to by agencies of/or by agencies the NZ state is responsible for.
Munned Stullet….move on man, cut your losses…. stop pushing shit uphill.
Forget the lifetime of earnings you’ve attained…
Nah man…you’re fault you were conned by NZ govt agency approved consiltants….move on….start again ya lazy munter.
Actually @SM, i used to take you at face value till I realised….fill in the rest for yourself
please read my comment to James for a moderation note.
It is. If we didn’t have the rich, and that includes Bono, then we wouldn’t have need of charities to address the problems that the rich create by their simple existence.
One example of Bono’s form.
He is a tax dodger.
‘Inside Bono’s boundless hypocrisy’
‘Bono (and his charity One) earned kudos for insisting countries, corporations and people pay taxes in pursuit of a fairer society. In 2011, Bono, 57, who, according to CNN has an estimated net worth of $590 million, further angered his countrymen when he espoused the values of Ireland’s 12.5 percent corporate tax breaks. He went on the record to claim that these breaks for multi-billion dollar companies had brought Ireland the “only prosperity we’ve ever known.” He had a point, but as the locals noted, Bono wasn’t even giving the country a meager 12.5 percent any longer.’
https://nypost.com/2017/11/11/the-hypocrisy-of-bono-and-his-one-charity/amp/
More evidence of the duplicitous U2 lead singer.
The Irish hate him.
Because he is a tax dodger.
‘But to huge sections of the Irish population, Bono is about as welcome as cold sores and spam email. How can that be?’
‘it’s another issue that really dogs the band: their tax arrangements. In 2006, U2 moved part of their business to the Netherlands, where the tax rate on royalty earnings is more favourable for artists. When you operate on U2’s financial scale, this is a major detail. Ireland was scalded by the global 2008 financial crash; communities were eroded by austerity, while the band’s reputation as “tax dodgers” persisted. As People Before Profit party TD Bríd Smith says: “Bono is seen as part of that cohort of very wealthy people who avoid paying tax in this country but enjoy the fruits of being of this country.”
https://amp.theguardian.com/music/2017/jul/12/where-the-streets-have-no-statues-why-do-the-irish-hate-u2
Interesting speech from Jeremy Corbyn to Scottish Labour. Starting off with a reference to the Spanish Civil War(!) and using terms like comrade to address the audience, and socialism to describe the party.
The themes of ending austerity, national renewal, a genuine economic alternative and hope for a better society in the future are what appeals to youth.
At 11:30 he starts to talk about Brexit and makes some interesting comments. Labour seems to have accepted Brexit – I don’t think Corbyn was really ever that keen on the United States of Neoliberal Europe anyway – and is seeking to paint the Tories as using Brexit for an exercise in disaster capitalism.
I don’t fancy his chances on getting a decent new customs union deal and retaining the single market with the EU. The idea Britain can regulate the importation of cheap Labour and remain in the customs union and single market seems fanciful to me. I don’t think Corbyn has yet grasped the nature of the European antipathy to the UK.
The EU bureaucracies response to Brexit so far has been arrogant, high handed and rigid. Talking to Europeans in Holland, Spain, Germany and France the public are kinda over the British hating on the EU anyway, and are sad the Brits leaving but over the moaning from them when they were in. The EU technocrats have got nothing to gain in cutting the British a good deal and a lot to lose if they make leaving the march to a centralised, technocrat run Europe look like a viable alternative.
Corbyn’s EU policy hinges on his promise of getting a good deal for Britain. Time will tell! But I support the idea of Britain leaving the EU if the EU will not allow the UK Labour party to carry out socialist reforms.
The EU has already shown it’s dedication to, keeping the power of banks, opposing Labour rights and community Democracy, and the ruthless bankrupting of any country that does not carry out Neo-liberal “reforms”.
The EU’s biggest problem with Britain leaving, is the population of other EU countries seeing what can happen when Socialist “Democracy” returns to Britain, under Corbyn.
Sanctuary it was Dundee’s large contribution of fighters to the Spanish Civil War that he was referring to, because he was speaking in Dundee.
And he kept referring to ‘our movement’ And he praised Ann somebody who got 70% of some vote, and that she was only the second woman to become Rector of some university. I think he was touching base with all the things that Labour Dundee had to be proud of.
I haven’t got time to listen to it properly and indeed i can’t hear clearly even though I have my sound options open fully – my hearing usually pretty good. So thanks for making this available. Others will no doubt get a lot from it.
Some very good interview on Wallace Chapman this morning.
Treasury talking about a more realistic fairer economic system here?
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/sunday/audio/2018635582/gabriel-makhlouf-natural-capital-and-national-wellbeing
Gabriel Makhlouf: natural capital and national wellbeing
From Sunday Morning, 8:37 am today
Listen duration 22′ :06″
Recently Treasury announced it plans to measure the wellbeing of the nation as part of its Living Standards Framework. The Secretary to the Treasury, Gabriel Makhlouf, outlines how it will work.
Tourism – Iceland and NZ can high five
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/insight/audio/2018635213/insight-tourism-saturation-nz-s-lessons-for-iceland (look at great images)
Iceland is drowning in tourists.
Last year more than two million people visited the Scandinavian country, which is home to just 330,000 people living on islands about a third of the size of New Zealand.
Listen 25′ :26″
Locals are cashing in on the tourism boom – but as in New Zealand, it’s proving to be a double-edged sword.
Christianson, a tourist information adviser in the northern city of Akureyri, says Icelanders are becoming increasingly frustrated with having to queue, slow traffic on the ring road that circles the main island, and hearing English rather than Icelandic everywhere they go.
More worryingly, the millions of pairs of feet trampling on areas of natural beauty is unsustainable, while infrastructure is under intense pressure. Sound familiar?
Those who have listened to Sec of Treasury, Gabriel Makhlouf about how they propose to include a measure of standard of living progress or decline in their reports, should read this piece by Chris Trotter on Bill Sutton.
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2018/03/09/still-looking-for-a-compatible-rabbit/
Sutton was one of the keen devotees of Roger Douglas et al – (Roger Douglas, Michael Bassett, Mike Moore and David Lange were Labour Party politicians instrumental in the overthrow of their leader Bill Rowling …) – who went on to introduce us to the dreadful neoiberal, free market that has cost us so much.
Trotter’s essay quotes David Lange, who tried to withdraw from the Gang of Four, actually throwing out Roger which was disputed and reversed by his colleagues. David referred to Bill Sutton needing a brain transplant but that a compatible rabbit couldn’t be found. Trotter calls that a ‘vicious joke’. I think it was a well-deserved jab, and he might well have referred to a ‘compatible rat’.
Sutton is a scientist, and latterly a senior policy analyst for about 11 years. He must be suffering from what many scientists (and also many academics) fall prey to, a profound belief in the superiority of his mind and training and the rightness of his own decisions.
(Sutton has a PhD in biochemistry (Massey University) and worked as a research scientist from 1969 to 1984. After retiring from politics he worked as a senior policy analyst from 1996 to 2007.) Thanks wikipedia
Well, so much for the promises made by the Labour Party last year.
The Manawatu Gorge repair, or replacement is just getting later and later, if it ever happens at all. Even the bypass at Ashurst has gone into limbo.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/102100536/ashhurst-bypass-on-hold-for-foreseeable-future
Prior to the election the then leader was making brave promises.
http://www.labour.org.nz/manawatu_gorge
The candidates were making a variety of claims
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/96287936/manawatu-candidates-front-up-with-manawatu-gorge-plans
“Lees-Galloway said with the arrival of MMP, the days of politicians promising and not delivering were over.
“It is a leap of faith and you will have to trust we will do that.”
Now the Ashurst bypass, first promised to be finished by March 2018 hasn’t even started and is merely drifting ever further into the future.
Is there anything, apart from taking lots and lots of selfies with primary school kids that our current lot of no-hopers has managed?
So, that would have been a National Party promise then?
Oh, wait, no – that was NZTA and they’re being held up by the farmers trying to rip off the government.
This is also the type of problem that happens when you use trucks as the main method of transport rather than trains and ships.
Well, if you need the land you can use the Public Works Act, or whatever it might be called these days. That is what is normally done in these circumstances and previous Labour Governments certainly weren’t phased by the idea.
That is of course what you would have to do if you decided to use the new railways of course for transport but I’m sure you know that. I think it is a great deal more likely that the NZTA have been told not to do anything as the current lot of bunnies in the Government can’t find any money.
As for using ships. There is a port at Wellington and another one at Napier of course but I’m not really sure that is the answer to transport between the Wairarapa or Southern Hawke’s Bay and the Manawatu.
I’m afraid you cannot blame the previous National Government for things that the present Government are delaying. Good try but no cigar.
You’re aware of how long and acquisition under the Public Works Act takes.
NZTA are in a war of resistance against this government.
The delays for that one and many others will continue even well after the impending Government Policy Statement.
I’m loving the right wing attack lines, “labour are not delivering”.
As it stands, we have a civil service who are no longer servants of the public, but ideology and preserving the status quo. Labour, NZ1st and the Greens can’t do anything until this pile of crap national left them with is fixed.
Any large ideological shift requires a good old clean out.
9 years under one government inevitably tilts the public service.
Minister Twyford is fully up to the task and aware of what he has to do.
Yes it’s a bit early to say the new government isn’t delivering. However there are some warning signs:
1. The number of Ministers who are in ‘witness protection’ (eg Kelvin Davis https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2018/03/an_acting_pm_who_cant_talk_on_anything_the_government_is_doing.html, Clare Curran (who has been hammered by Melissa Lee of all people)).
2. The number of Ministers looking like possums in the headlights (Davis again, Curran again, Willie Jackson, Nanaia Mahuta).
3. The post election ‘road to Damascus’ conversion to the TPP (http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1802/S00193/complete-u-turn-by-labour-and-nz-first-on-tpp.htm).
4. Pre election promises that are and were the stuff of Disney world (kiwibuild https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/102113019/Economist-warns-KiwiBuild-is-set-to-disappoint?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter, tree planting…).
5. A PM who gets photographed handing awards to students of a school she is about to close, and at a retreat where allegations of sexual assault have surfaced.
6. An expensive bribe to students that has resulted in a 0% increase in student numbers (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12008838).
7. A Finance Minister who flip flops on the level of government debt) https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/101346887/grant-robertsons-aboutface-on-debt).
8. A foreign buyers ban so poorly conceived it would stop the 5G roll out (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12007127).
And that’s just for starters!
“NZTA are in a war of resistance against this government.”
Hardly surprising considering the makeup of it’s board, https://nzta.govt.nz/about-us/about-the-nz-transport-agency/our-board/ , stacked with contracting insiders. Of course they are going to look after their mates.
V. v. Useless (or Uturn) haven’t heard anyone lamenting her loss as mayor
Can see a few changes coming up there.
Solution.
Fire the board.
But that’s what works Alwyn. Selfies with school kids and endangered species gets us a Green/Labour govt next time round. We’re living a country where the most popular show on TV is Shortland Street.
“Hey Mr Polluter, this is how much you’re getting for the farm that’s been in your family for 7 generations, to hell with your skyrocket valuation. Grab your BBQ and Hi Lux and piss off.”…….Not so much, msm suicide.
“Selfies with school kids and endangered species”. Well that part is correct although the rest of the sentence is unlikely to be true.
The endangered species in this is the Green Party, after all. They aren’t likely to survive the next election. I don’t think they will be missed. When you consider the stuff-up their leader has overseen in the Census (under 3 million people recorded) and one of the candidates for the XX chromosome spot is of for a fortnights holiday in New York their work ethic doesn’t really impress.
Cool. What’s the weather doing around your parts? Where are you at Alwyn?
Alwyn, the quality of your comments is declining 🙁
For your edification on Census stats so far: https://www.stats.govt.nz/news/census-online-total-nears-3-million
Julie Anne Genter, Minister for Women, will lead the New Zealand Government Delegation at the Sixty-Second Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in New York. https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/minister-women-lead-new-zealand-delegation-un-commission-status-women
I fail to see how you can possibly claim that the quality of my comments is declining. The links you include confirm precisely what I said, don’t they?
I said.
1. “Under 3 million people recorded”. Your link says that the total is nearing 3 million. Perfect score I would say.
2. “Genter is off for a fortnights holiday in New York”. Your link says she is off to attend a session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women in New York. She left on the 10th. The session lasts from the 12th to the 23rd. I suppose you could say that t is only for 12 days, not a fortnight but I’ll bet she is away for more than 14 days.
http://www.unwomen.org/en/csw/csw62-2018
Spot on for accuracy
That looks like a 100% record to me. Do you ever get close to that?
No, never, my PB is 97% (but that was some time ago) so your 100% hit rate is very impressive indeed.
However, I don’t want to burst your well-deserved jubilant and celebratory mood (i.e. your bubble), I really don’t, but you do realise that so far 3 million people have taken part online, don’t you?
But I agree that this amounts to a major “stuff-up” on behalf of the responsible Minister, James Shaw, and he has no choice but to hand in his resignation to the PM.
It is just not on that Julie Anne Genter goes to New York for at least (!) a whole fortnight for a meeting of only 12 days, all expenses paid for no doubt, and then does SFA. I double your bet that after that meeting she will be in full holiday mode and will have nothing else on her agenda. What’s worse, she might even rest her feet on a table with the excuse that she’s pregnant!! How long will she be away for again? Heads should roll for this crime to the NZ Taxpayer.
It is good that there are still honest people holding this Government to account and in particular that CS faction who call themselves the Green Party – those water melons can never be trusted near power or with NZ Taxpayers money, that’s for sure.
And I do apologise; your latest comment was of the superior quality that we have come to relish here. I mean, you cannot argue with 100% accuracy, can you?
Wow!
You must have been drinking something very potent.
On the other hand I think your comment even exceeds mine in its flamboyance, and I was trying very hard.
You win. Your comment is funnier than mine.
I cannot accept your flattery, Alwyn, it’s embarrassing!
It was mint tea, by the way.
Alwyn, are you complaining that the Labour/NZ First government have not confiscated the required land to speed up construction?
From the linked article it sounds like the delays are caused by NZTA negotiating in good faith to acquire the land.
Do you have any inside knowledge of the situation?
And what does this bypass have to do with promises made about the new road? AFAIK work/planning on the new road has not been delayed.
See my comment to DTB about how you can obtain needed land. It isn’t “confiscation”. You have to pay a fair price and in practice it is the only way that any roads, or railways, can be built.
As far as the new road is concerned the best we are being promised is that we might hear about options by the end of March. “might”.
Hardly what Little was saying last year is it?
“It will be built as quickly as possible, using the powers available to the Government to speed up consenting and planning, and ensuring funding is immediately available.”
My understanding is that compulsory acquisition via the public works act is usually a last resort. Otherwise why is NZTA currently negotiating rather than acquiring?
So you agree that there were no pre election promises regarding the delayed Ashhurst bypass?
Regarding the new road, I have not seen any evidence that that work/planning has been delayed, or that the government is not using all powers available to them. Can you provide any?
This column from Trotter asks a good question:
It is time we took our power back away from the institutions that are designed to keep capitalism going despite it’s obvious failure to provide our society with what it needs.
This disgraceful incident should never have been allowed to occur in the first place …
Woman breaks leg at Middlemore hospital after having epidural for birth! Despite complaining of numbness in her right leg after the birth and having mobility difficulties, the new mother was forced to walk by the duty staff nurse. She fell, causing her right leg to collapse under her, fracturing her tibia!
The resulting bullshit and spin used by the hospital department management/hierarchy is incredibly mind boggling! What’s the matter with using plain simple language, while also acknowledging the accident was the responsibility of the duty nurse and the hospital, something which is blatantly obvious?
It will be interesting to see who is held accountable for this woman’s preventable accident while still in the care of the hospital!
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12001186
They will blame the midwife if there is enough fuss. Never the hospital because it’s standard practise to require you to leave within a few hours of giving birth naturally and within 24 hours of a Caesarean. (At least that was what our family was told).
In the old days people stayed for 7 days in a maternity hospital and were taught how to care for the baby and had meals etc provided so you could concentrate on getting well and bonding.
Now to save the government money you bundle your newborn into a carseat within hours and have to go else where.
Possibly that explains our abuse statistics, it’s not exactly a good start for a baby and a Mother or family.
Also unless you went private you would be hard pressed to see a obstetrician in the leadup and during the birth of a baby.
After a few days in a birth centre if you choose to go to one, the after care goes to the charity Plunket because the government does not provide any or see the need to provide any government run after birth care.
My ex just dropped our sprog on a mattress on the lounge floor.
I hope it was a very soft mattress. The Police get a bit suspicious about “dropped” claims if the child is hurt.
(Couldn’t resist that).
Arguably, birth & death are the most traumatic experiences in and of life.
Or as my Doctor would put it.
“You must remember that life is a terminal disease”
My Mother would have been more succinct
“Nobody gets out of here alive”
I’m afraid your doctor was well-conditioned by his professional training at med school because life is a terminal condition, not a disease.
Your mother was 100% accurate; it seems the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree 😉
Is the government no longer providing funding for ‘Well Child’ services ?
Theres a different between part funding a charity which needs to fund raise and accept donations from corporates than a fully funding NZ maternity aftercare service that is focused 100% on the job at hand (not fundraising).
I’d say the neoliberal business model of maternity care is NOT working if you look at the abuse statistics of this county and our poor efforts for children’s care and wellbeing and our dropping ranking is the world on this.
Our birth stats are going down. We aren’t a land of milk and honey and a good place to bring up children any more, except to people who can afford to buy what they need to compensate for NZ basic care, or come from somewhere really crowded, or have been in poverty or a refugee camp.
http://archive.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/population/births/BirthsAndDeaths_HOTPYeDec16.aspx
There were 1,608 fewer births and 429 fewer deaths compared with 2015.
The total fertility rate dropped to a low of 1.87 births per woman, compared with an annual average of about 2.02 from 1980–2015.
The infant mortality rate was 3.6 deaths per 1,000 live births.
(Between 1980 and 1986 we seemed to be below the natural increase, and are beginning to show now a similar trend.)
Our current Government are trying to do something about it.
Look at the leadership being displayed by Ardern and Genter.
Immigration from less fortunate nations can address that.
When I had my kids in the early 80’s I was allowed to stay in the maternity ward for 5 days.
For me, it was crucial, because I got the help that I needed to establish breast-feeding. (Not necessarily an easy or straightforward process.
Sadly several women there switched to bottles because they simply didn’t get the necessary help and advice.
One of my colleagues gave birth at night and they wanted to discharge her before 5am, ffs.
Interesting point about the obs, too. I wonder if there’s an observable socioeconomic bias…
There are many reasons for early mobization post anaesthesia, chiefly prevention of thrombsis, if this woman had died of a pulmonary embolism because she was not encouraged to mobilise it would be the health professional still at fault. In the not too distant past women were bed ridden for days post partum and the died of preventable causes, so whats one broken leg compared to the lives saved.
Oh sounds a bit regimented. What is appropriate for this patient at this particular time. Don’t want people afraid of nurses and hospitals do we, no Nurse Ratched stuff.
Psych nurse (10.2) …
I take on board your comparison with life threatening DVTs. However, it is definitely not satisfactory for a new mother to suffer a fractured leg immediate post partum, through staff failure to recognise a problem existed after receiving epidural anaesthesia. This is something which could have been avoided had the nurse been doing her job as an observant, caring health professional. Negligence is not conducive towards a good start for the new mother or her baby.
During the time I had my two children, it was mandatory for new mothers to rest up, bond with baby and establish good feeding patterns in the maternity hospital, usually for about a week or thereabouts. Most of us mothers were encouraged to move around, at a level that was comfortable for us, but not forced if mobility caused pain or difficulties. Also during that post natal period, the hospital physiotherapist visited, giving appropriate exercise programmes to assist mobility, as well as to prevent DVTs from forming. This system worked quite well for most new mothers and their babies.
Seems these days good, positive, as well as respectful maternity care is non existent. More the pity!
I’d like to see ACC expanded to include sickness – basically turn it into income protection insurance for illness and injury. This could partly be funded by removing the requirement to provide sick leave, and levying employers more on the savings. Any thoughts?
That was the original plan.
Should also cover unemployment.
It is still a tax, but much more palatable when people can see where it is going and why.
Pity we cannot stop right wing Governments, however, from treating it like a cash cow, commercial insurance.
Sick leave can be utilised for other than the worker’s own sickness, no matter what the company allows or is told. It is a safety net for families, though may not be used because of harsh necessity and resentment by the business against those not collapsing at work. My sister was a teacher, very devoted and hard working, and the management of her school were a bit snippy when she needed time off. Don’t think of cutting sick leave is my thought.
I definitely agree that retaining leave of some sort for dependents is essential, but that can be included in the ACC rules.
Craig H
You are so trusting. The ACC rules can be changed, subverted etc. They already are a different beast than when they were started. The things they do to the needy people on their books, and the ones the reject, are not good reading. I think they are reducing costs by putting people’s applications through a computerised system, ie being sorted by robot brains. Some of the humans weren’t so good because the government set pet medical doctors onto them to decide whether they could come in without being bitten, or have to endure a fight. Don’t think ACC is some reliably good organisation to help the community. I think they are something useful because their reserves look good on a balance sheet for the country so we can keep a low interest rate on our borrowing, so we can have some money circulating like a real economy.
The Holidays Act can be changed too if the government of the day decides to. Provided the ACC Act sets the entitlements into legislation rather than regulations, it’s as safe (or not) as any other legislative entitlement.
Too much power in one hands can create misery. Don’t think you quite understand how our government slowly has unwound, and sometimes quickly, legislative entitlements. Sorry to burst your bubble.
Because laughing is helpful. Samantha Bee on the twitter and chief. 7.03 long.
National reshuffle done.
It’s going to be Judith Collins versus Phil Twyford in the transport and urban development portfolios.
He can take her no probs.
But it will be fireworks.
I don’t think he can, I think hes about to find out how difficult the job can really be
Collins couldn’t take a car off an 18 year old yob and I doubt she’ll fare any better against Twyford.
The point wasn’t to see how many cars could be crushed it was to stop the cars being in such way they would be crushed
The yobs cut way down on what they were doing so Jude scored a major win on that point
And shes number 4 with a portfolio that will see her get media attention so any faltering in the polls and Jude can lead National to the promised land so its a win-win-win situation all round (except for Twyford and Labour of course)
Major win my arse.
Much to her embarrassment, the 18 year old yob took Colllins’ ministry on wild goose chase, and won.
The Government, and it’s Minister, Phil Twyford what to build shitloads of houses.. Lots of New Zealanders want shitloads of houses built, fast. The National Party, and it’s aspiring leader, Judith Collins want to stop them doing this.
What could possibly go wrong …..
“The yobs cut way down on what they were doing so Jude scored a major win on that point”
No they didn’t 🙂
It’s what you’d like to think I know but nah we, oops, they, didn’t..
The yobs cut way down on what they were doing
Yeah Right!
What planet are you on again?
Rich and entitled humans torture sentient beings.
For sport.
Disgusting.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12010650
I didn’t open the link but I’m assuming you’re talking about Clarke Gayford
No – Paula Bennett.
Would you use that same sentence to describe Clarke Gayford – New Zealand’s first man of fishing ?
Yes
Tag and release good on her.
Yes so good to torture an animal just for sport.
Not even to eat.
Just for fun.
Good on her.
In fairness I’ve only caught two. We smoked both and fed a ton of people.
I never asked.
Please tell me what the video says.
I’m terribly sorry ED I never realised you were hard of hearing.
This is an interview about the very important rights of animals. Ali G invited animal rights ambassadors to talk with him about how we should treat animals. The guests did their best to explain why it is wrong to perform experiments on animals at home, an important question that was asked was –
“Would you eat a chicken if another chicken would die if you said no!”
I don’t see the relevance to the story about Bennett torturing a sentient being just for fun.
Can you?
Oh Yes, on so very many levels Ed.
Good on you.
Terribly sorry Stunned Mullet but you have been coming on TS long enough to know that we like to have some information about what is going on in your brain, what point it wants to make about what the video contains so we know whether we want to watch it. Is it going to be fun, or informative, or like something that happens in NZ that is worthy of notice etc.
😆
Rich and entitled humans torture sentient beings.
Just count your blessings that cats didn’t come to dominate the planet, mate
They couldn’t be worse than humans…or could they ?
http://www.imghumour.com/assets/Uploads/Cat-Hitler2.jpg
Actually it was dolphins..
i live with 3 cats that make a lie of your statement that they don’t dominate the planet
This weekend I keep going back to this piece on Paul Keating’s latest utterances in the SMH. https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/paul-keating-praises-donald-trump-as-surprisingly-good-at-foreign-policy-20180309-p4z3mh.html
What gets me is not just what Keating says, but the conditions that underpin it. It seems as if the “professional politicians” that replaced the old representative ones are inhibited from meaningfully engaging in realpolitik, due to their subservience to corporate and financial interests. The fact is, the whole world did not magically transform into dedicated adherents to the so-called Washington Consensus, and their response has been limited to bullying and cajoling those who have not succumbed: “It won’t happen overnight, but it will happen”, they seem to think. Keating refers to this approach as a “lack of strategy” and praises Trump for at least trying.
The last two sentences: Mr Keating said Russia had the power to “obliterate” the US, and urged Mr Trump to maintain a workable relationship with the Kremlin.
“Russia alone has the capacity to obliterate the United States. If you’re a country that lives under the threat of obliteration, you generally should have a policy.”
I wonder if we should campaign to oust David Parker for signing the TPP. He hasn’t kept his promises. It isn’t in the public interest. And most importantly it won’t bring down the coalition. But it will make them think long and hard before shafting New Zealand again.
Wearing it on his sleeve.
Channeling the Romanovs.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has suggested Jews and other minorities in Russia, including Tatars and Ukranians, could be to blame for meddling in the US presidential election.
“Maybe they’re not even Russians,” he told NBC News. “Maybe they’re Ukrainians, Tatars, Jews, just with Russian citizenship. Even that needs to be checked.”
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/vladimir-putin-donald-trump-jews-meddling-interfering-us-elections-fbi-investigation-robert-mueller-a8249671.html
Nah that’s fine it’s not racism unless you photoshop his head onto Oprah.
Perhaps tRump has no intention of being voted out.
BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts state secretary William Galvin is strongly opposing President Donald Trump’s proposal to dispatch Secret Service agents to polling places during federal elections.
A provision of the Homeland Security reauthorization bill would allow armed Secret Service agents to enter polling locations at the direction of the President. Galvin says he is “horrified that this is even under consideration.”
https://www.boston.com/news/politics/2018/03/10/mass-state-secretary-blasts-trumps-proposal-to-dispatch-secret-service-to-polling-places
Looks like the shining beacon on the hill is out of fuel
Says you. You are of course the voice of reason….and a legend in you’re own mind.
TS …. something in recent times you come to love to hate.
The commenters with such a love of their own arseholes and self-adjuged intelligence. The egos. The dried up old public servants trying to remain relevant as contributors (probably … i was going to mention Paekakariki or Browns Bay …. best not go there or it’ll provoke an Ad-like epistle justifying ilk and neo-lib, or at least neo-lib-lite ideology).
An ability to sympathise rather than empathise….there goes the progressive Chardonnay TVNZ7 leftie.
Time is running out though folks. The game is up…. which is why NZ elected a change. Hopefully the MMP govts participants may soon come to realise what put them there, and why, and what is expected of them.
Dont hold back, tell us what you really think